Parental perceptions of fever in children

Background: Fever is a common medical problem in children which often promp ts parents to seek immediate medical care. The objective of this study was to survey parents about their knowledge and attitude concerning fever in th eir children. Patients and Methods: The study involved the random selection of Saudi pare nts who brought their febrile children to the emergency rooms or walk-in cl inics of four hospitals in Riyadh. Parents of 560 febrile children were int erviewed using a standard questionnaire to obtain sociodemographic informat ion and current knowledge of fever. Approximately 70% of the respondents we re female, and the ages of the most were in the range of 20-40 years. More than 80% of the parents had two or more children. Results: More than 70% of parents demonstrated a poor understanding of the definition of fever, high fever, maximum temperature of untreated fever, an d threshold temperature warranting antipyresis. About 25% of parents consid ered temperatures less than 38.0 degreesC to be fever, another 25% did not know the definition of fever, 64% felt that temperatures of less than 40.0 degreesC could he dangerous to a child, and 25% could not define high fever . Another 23% believed that if left untreated, temperatures could rise to 4 2.0 degreesC or higher, but 37% could not provide an answer, and 62% did no t know the minimum temperature for administering antipyretics. Approximatel y 95% of parents demonstrated undue fear of consequent body damage from fev er, including convulsion. brain damage or stroke, coma, serious vague illne ss, blindness, and even death. Conclusion: Parental misconceptions about fever reflect the lack of active health education in our community. Health professionals have apparently not done enough to educate parents on the condition of fever and its consequen ces, a common problem.