• Chalie Chulapornsiri, Ekachai Pradermdussadeeporn, Sorawit Pongpittayut, Amphairat Sutthithumthaworn, Chatchai Chulapornsiri, Witsanu Aninlabon, Meechokchai Wisassittichok, Kritpisut Maitongngam, Jarujan Subchartanan, Orapa Suteerojntrakool, Therdpong Tempark, and Chansuda Bongsebandhu-Phubhakdi.
• Department of Pediatrics, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital Bangkok, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Fam Pract. 2023 Mar 28; 40 (2): 226232226-232.

BackgroundMost caregivers may visit pediatric outpatient clinics with high concern of fever and improper antipyretic use. However, studies of concern about fever in Asian countries are still limited.ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore caregivers' attitudes, management of their child's fever, factors associated with their high concern, and expectation from medical services.MethodsA cross-sectional 26-item self-administered questionnaire was used to survey caregivers of 1-month to 15-year-old febrile infants/children/teenagers visiting outpatient clinics in 9 government hospitals from July 2018 to August 2019.ResultsOne thousand two hundred and six caregivers (67% response rate) completed self-administered questionnaire. The median age of the caregivers and the pediatric patients were 34 years (interquartile range [IQR] 28-40) and 3.3 years (IQR 1.8-6.1), respectively. Approximately 70% of them believed that fever could harm a child, resulting in brain damage or death. Also, 2% managed high doses of acetaminophen and overdosed the child. The high level of concern was significantly associated with acetaminophen overdose (P < 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test). Caregivers of nonhealth care providers and children's history of febrile seizure were factors related to higher score of concern. Most caregivers expected definite diagnosis (70.7%), antipyretic drugs (67.4%), and blood tests (48.9%).ConclusionCaregivers' high concern of fever existed in Thailand. This may lead to unnecessary high doses of antipyretics. In clinical practice, the high concern of fever is a challenge for caregivers and pediatric health care providers. A better understanding of fever and its consequence should be advocated for proper management of the child's fever.© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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