Parental Approach to the Management of Childhood Fever: Differences between Health Professional and Non-Health Professional Parents

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2019-10, Vol.16 (20), p.4014
• Main Authors: Villarejo-Rodríguez, María Gloria, Rodríguez-Martín, Beatriz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analgesics; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Data analysis; Data collection; Drug self-administration; Emergency medical care; Empowerment; Family; Female; Fever; Fever - therapy; Focus Groups; Grounded theory; Health; Health Personnel - psychology; Heterogeneity; Homogeneity; Humans; Infant; Male; Medical personnel; Medical research; Methods; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Objectives; Parents; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Pediatrics; Primary care; Professionals; Qualitative Research; Researchers; Rural areas; Sampling methods; Software; Studies; Temperature
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16204014

Fever is responsible for 30% of pediatric consultations at primary care services. The aim of this study was to explore the parental approach to fever in children aged between 0 and 12 years old by both health professional and non-health professional parents. A qualitative study based on grounded theory was performed. Focus groups were conducted, segmented by sex, place of residence, and healthcare training, using a triangulated sample (theoretical and snowball sampling) of parents of children aged between 0 and 12 years who were treated for fever at primary care emergency services. The constant comparative method and a process of coding was used for the analysis. The study findings reveal that the health training of parents, their former experience, family pressures, the age of the child, and the parents' work outside the home, all influenced how they approached fever management. These findings could be incorporated into clinical practice to improve care and compliance with fever treatment.