• de BontEefje G P MEGPMhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-2700-4752Department of Family Medicine, CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands., Jolijn M H A Bohnen, Rachèl Verhoeven, Geert-Jan Dinant, and CalsJochen W LJWLDepartment of Family Medicine, CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands..
• Department of Family Medicine, CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
• Eur J Gen Pract. 2020 Dec 1; 26 (1): 21-25.

AbstractBackground: Current guidelines emphasise prudent use of paracetamol in febrile children without pain. Little evidence is available on paracetamol administration by parents in general and post-GP-consultations.Objectives: To investigate if and how often parents of febrile children administer paracetamol to their child after consulting a GP during out-of-hours care. To explore if condition (painful or not), socio-economic status and age influenced this behaviour.Methods: This was a pre-planned secondary study, attached to an RCT (n = 25,355) that studied the effect of an illness-focused interactive booklet on antibiotic prescriptions in febrile children between three months and 12 years, at 20 GP out-of-hours centres across the Netherlands. Baseline data and ICPC codes were retrieved from the GP out-of-hours centre database. During a telephone survey two weeks after consulting a GP out-of-hours centre, a random sample of parents was asked if and how often they had given their child paracetamol.Results: Parents of 548 children participated. Most parents administrated paracetamol for two weeks after consulting (83.8%). Children received 11 doses on average during follow-up (maximum 72 doses). Paracetamol administration increased with age. Age three to six months received paracetamol in 68% (17/25) of the cases versus 89.6% (121/135) in children aged five to twelve years. Frequency of paracetamol administration was similar for most common infections, regardless of being painful or painless.Conclusion: Most children who consulted out-of-hours general practice for fever and common infections received paracetamol at home during their illness episode, regardless of a painful condition being present. Paracetamol administration increased with age.

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