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

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 = 22.694, p = 0.030). Presence of the true fever in emergency department admission was positively correlated with the father's working status, maternal education level and high family income level (X2=7.148, p=0.008, X2=4.11, p= 0.043,X2=10.020,p=0.002, respectively). Additionally, the number of people living at home and the number of children at home were negatively correlated with true high temperature measurements in the emergency department (r= –0.103, p=0.020, r= –0.091, p=0.041, respectively). Conclusion: We found that rate of true fever cases in the emergency department was affected by the number of people and children living at home, the mother's educational status, the father’s working status of and the average income level of the family.We hope that our findings will contribute to the studies being performed to prevent unnecessary admissions to pediatric emergency departments.Giriş: Çocuk Acil Servisine yüksek ateş yakınmasıyla başvuran çocukların anne babalarının ateşle ilgili bilgi, tutum ve davranışları belirlenerek çocuklarda gerçekten yüksek ateş varlığı üzerinde etkili olan faktörlerin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Bu kesitsel çalışma, l Haziran 2014-30 Eylül 2014 tarihleri arasında Adana Numune Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi Çocuk Acil Servisine yüksek ateş şikayeti ile başvuran 509 hastanın aileleri ile yapıldı. Ailelerin demografik veriler kaydedildi, anne babanın ateşle ilgili bilgi, tutum ve davranışları, ateş korkularının derecesi araştırıldı ve başvuru anında ateşin kaç derece olduğu kaydedildi. Çocukların ateşi gerçekten yüksek olması üzerine etkili olan faktörlerin karşılaştırılmasında Ki-Kare testi ve Spearmann korelasyon analizi kullanıldı. Bulgular: Çalışmaya alınan çocukların yaş ortalaması 66.4±53.7 ay, annelerin yaş ortalaması 32.3± 6.5 yıl ve babaların yaş ortalaması 36.5± 7 yıl idi. Annelerin%53.4’ü ve babaların ise %45’i ilkokul ve ortaokul eğitimi almışlardı. Annelerin %89.6’sı çalışmayan ev hanımları iken babaların %91.9’unun düzenli bir işi vardı. Ailelerin %48.3’ü düşük gelir düzeyine sahipti. Çocuk Acil Serviste yapılan ölçüm sonucu 365 (%71.7) çocuğun ise ateşi vardı. Annelerin %22.0’si çocuklarının ateşinin yükselmesinden çok fazla korktuklarını belirttiler. Ateş korkusunun annenin eğitim durumu arttıkça anlamlı olarak azaldığı bulunmuştur (X2=22.694, p=0.030).Acil Servis başvurusunda çocuğun gerçekten ateşinin olması üzerinde babanın çalışma durumu,anne eğitim düzeyi ve ailenin gelir düzeyinin yüksek olması etkili bulunmuştur (sırasıyla X2=7.148, p=0.008, X2=4.11, p= 0.043,X2=10.020,p=0.002). Ayrıca evdeki yaşan kişi sayısı ve çocuk sayısı arttıkça acil serviste ateşin gerçekten yüksek ölçülme oranının azaldığı görülmüştür (sırasıyla r= –0.103, p=0.020, r= –0.091, p=0.041). Sonuç: Acil servis başvurusunda ateşin gerçekten yüksek ölçülmesinin evde yaşayan kişi ve çocuk sayısından, annenin eğitim durumu, babanın çalışma durumu ve ailenin ortalama gelir düzeyinden etkilendiğini bulduk. Bulgularımızın çocuk acil servislerine gereksiz başvuruların önüne geçilmesi amacıyla yapılacak çalışmalara katkı sağlamasını umuyoruz.

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