Investigation of Anxiety Levels and Fever Management of Parents of Children with Fever

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study is to examine the anxiety levels and fever management of parents of children with fever. Materials and Methods: The population of the study consisted of 180 parents who came to the pediatric emergency clinic of the specified hospital between October 2020 and May 2021 who had a child with fever aged between 0 and 6 years, had no communication problem, and were literate. The sampling method was not used and the study was completed with 165 parents. “Child and Parent Descriptive Information Form”, “State Anxiety Inventory”, and “Parents’ Fever Management Scale” were used to collect the data of the study. Results: All of the parents took the temperature of their child when the child had fever, 73.9% of them still had fever at presentation, 57.6% of them had taken their children to the hospital due to fever before, 90.9% of them were anxious about the fever, 61.2% of them were afraid that their child would suffer a seizure, 52.7% of them took the temperature of their children from their forehead, and 79.4% of them knew the normal limits of the fever; 47.9% of them considered the range of 38-38.9oC as fever, 42.4% of them considered the range of 38-38.9oC as worrisome, 38.8% of them undressed the child as the first application in case of fever, 48.5% of them performed warm application with warm water, and 56.4% of them had not received information about fever. Conclusion: It was determined that the parents of the children with fever had low level of anxiety and their fever management was high. The parents, who were university graduates, were residing in the city, had social security, and had an income higher than expenditure, had a high mean score of fever management.