Factors Affecting the Presence of Fever in Children Brought to the Emergency Department with Fever Complaint

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of the parents of the children about fever who applied to the Pediatric Emergency Department with the complaints of fever, and to investigate the factors affecting fever in children. Method: This cross-sectional study included the parents of 509 children who were taken to Adana Numune Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Emergency Department with fever complaint between 01.06.2014 and 30.09.2014.Parents' demographic data was recorded.The knowledge, attitude and behavior of the mothers and fathers about the fever and the degree of fear from fever were investigated. Body temperaturein admission was recorded.The chi-square test and Spearman correlation analyses were used to compare the factors affecting the fever in children. Results: The mean age of the children, mothers and fathers were 66.4±53.7 months, 32.3±6.5 years and 36.5±7 years respectively. Of the mothers 53.4% and of the fathers 45% were primary or secondary school graduates. Of the mothers 89.6% were housewives and of the fathers 91.9% had a regular job. Of the families 48.3% had a low income level. Body temperature measurements in admissions to the emergency department revealed that 365 (71.7%) children had a fever. And 22% of the mothers stated that they were extremely afraid of their children having a fever.The fear of fever was found to be significantly decreased as the education level of the mother increased (X2