Effects of information on parental knowledge of febrile convulsions

The purpose of this study was to study the effects of giving information to parents with febrile convulsive children. All parents of children with feb rile convulsions who are seen at Worcester Royal Infirmary are given inform ation. Fifty parents of children who had had a first febrile convulsion dur ing May 1996 to December 1996 were interviewed by telephone from July to Se ptember 1997. The same questions were asked of 50 parents of children who c ame to a community health clinic and who had not had febrile convulsions. T he design used open questions and covered medical history, general child he alth knowledge and knowledge of febrile convulsion. The answers were compar ed using a chi-squared test (significance level P < 0.05). Possible confoun ding factors were tested by a correlation test. No difference was found bet ween the two groups in family structure, housing, and general child health knowledge. information about febrile convulsions was retained by informed p arents. Both groups thought the given information was useful and should be written in the child health record book. Information about febrile convulsi ons was remembered by parents. (C) 1999 BEA Trading Ltd.