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- Title
Parental reassurance concerning a feverish child: determinant factors in rural general practice.
- Authors
Chapron, Anthony; Brochard, Marc; Rousseau, Chloé; Rousseau, Anne-Charlotte; Brujean, Martine; Fiquet, Laure; Gandemer, Virginie
- Abstract
Background: Acute fever is the most common pediatric condition encountered in general practice and a source of parental concern that can result in inappropriate behavior. The main objective of this study was to describe and quantify parental reassurance concerning their feverish child in the context of visits to rural general practitioners (GPs). Method: The study included the parents of 202 feverish children, aged from 3 months to 6 years, consulting 13 representative rural GPs. Questionnaires were administered before and after the consultation. Uni- and multivariate analysis were performed to study variations of the levels of concern and associated factors. Results: The duration of fever was 1.3 days (± 1.1). The mean score for parental concern was 4.8 out of 10 (± 2.2) before, and 2.4 (± 1.9) after the consultation (p < 0.0001). The concern correlated with the timing of the appointment relative to the usual wait (p = 0.0002), and a lack of knowledge about fever complications (p = 0.013). Conclusion: Facilitating access to consultations with a GP within the expected timeframe reduces parental concern. Increasing parental education about fever is also necessary.
- Subjects
EDUCATION of parents; FEVER; FEVER in children; MEDICAL appointments; MEDICAL care; MEDICAL personnel; MEDICAL referrals; MEDICAL practice; MULTIVARIATE analysis; QUESTIONNAIRES; RURAL health; STATISTICS; TIME; PARENT attitudes; HEALTH literacy; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
BMC Family Practice, 2018, Vol 19, p1
- ISSN
1471-2296
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12875-017-0686-1