MOTHERS KNOWLEDGE OF, ATTITUDES TOWARD, AND MANAGEMENT OF FEVER IN PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN IN ITALY

Background, We examined mothers' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and m anagement of fever in their children. Methods. Interviews of mothers o f preschool children were performed using a structured questionnaire a dministered by interviewers with no specific medical competence. Resul ts. Of a total of 1,237 mothers who were interviewed, data were analyz ed for the 707 mothers who had coped with a febrile episode in their c hildren during the previous month. Of these, 59% were concerned about fever in their children and 17% were very worried. At the onset of fev er, 48% of the mothers gave their child an antipyretic and 18% called the physician immediately. In logistic regression analysis, five varia bles were significantly associated with mothers' concern: the absence of previous information on the management of fever, temperature >39 de grees C, an only child, mother's low educational level, and mother's r esidency in the south of Italy. For the request for a physician's visi t, of the variables entered, the only explanatory ones were the mother 's concern and the absence of previous information on the management o f fever. Conclusions. These findings suggest that informing mothers on the definition, consequences, and treatment of fever can significantl y improve their confidence in managing fever, as reflected by fewer re quests for physicians' visits. (C) 1998 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.