In feverish children, mothers' knowledge and home management about fever and its relationship with sociodemographical characteristics

Aim: The aim of the current study was to determine the level of knowledge of the mothers about fever, find out their worries and approaches related to fever and analyse all the influentials factors. Method: The present study was performed in Pediatric Emergency and Outpatient Clinics between November 2008 and April 2009. The mothers of 500 children who were 14 years and younger with fever were included in the study. A 35-item questionnaire was applied to the mothers. Written informed consent was obtained from all mothers. The ages of mothers and their children, number of the siblings, education levels of the parents, income of the family, residency of the family, presence of a body thermometer at home, the method and time of measuring the fever, knowledge of the mothers about fever, management of fever at home, the use of antipyretics and the concerns about fever were interrogated. Also body temperatures of all febrile children were measured on hospital admission. Results: The mean age of the children was 3.9 +/- 3.3 years. Majority of the mothers had educated for 1 and 8 years. Approximately 75% of the families were residing in the city and usually had a moderate income level. Seventy one percent of the mothers had a thermometer at home. The rate of correct knowledge about the normal body temperature was found to be 79%. But 42% of the mothers had inaccurate information about high body temperature limits. We found a highly positive correlation between mothers' correct answers related to the normal ranges of the fever and their education and income levels (p<0.001). It was revealed that %37.6 of the mothers was taking off the clothes of their children, 33.2% were bathing them, and 18.6% of them were giving antipyretics as the first approach against fever. Three hundred and eighty four (76.8%) percent of the participants were found to have fever, and 99% of them were using antipyretics without asking a doctor. Also 24% of the mothers were giving antipyretics to their children at intervals less than 4 hours. Frequent usage of antipyretics was not correlated with mothers' educational level. All of the mothers worried about their febrile children. Conclusion: Sufficient knowledge and accurate attitudes of mothers about fever may eliminate unnecessary treatment and emergency applications and also reduce their fever-related concerns.