Knowledge and attitude of parents of children with fever in an Amazonian population

Abstract

Introduction: fever is one of the most common medical problems experienced by children. It is clinically defined as a body temperature of 1°C or more above the mean standard deviation at the site of recording. Objective: to determine the relationship between the level of knowledge and beliefs with parental attitudes towards fever in children under five years old attending emergency and pediatric services. Methods: an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study on 335 parents who attended twice or more the MINSA II-2 Tarapoto Hospital due to the occurrence of fever in their children. The variables studied were the level of knowledge, attitudes towards fever and socio-demographic variables. Results: parents were between the ages of 20 and 29 (63,6 %) and 77 % were female. Secondary education (33,7 %) and higher education (33,7 %) predominated; 53,4 % of them reported having only one child, and 60 % of them worked; 95,2 % of the parents showed insufficient knowledge and 62,4 % showed a non-optimal attitude in the occurrence of fever in their children. An association was found between attitude and level of knowledge (p<0,02). Conclusions: most of the parents with fever-phobia were young females and first-time parents, with university studies. There was insufficient knowledge on the part of the parents, as well as non-optimal attitudes, both variables correlated.

Keywords

• trastornos fóbicos
• fiebre
• conocimientos, actitudes y práctica en salud
• relaciones padre-hijo
• niño
• cuidado del niño.