ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2009
Apprehensive parents: a qualitative study of parents seeking immediate primary care for their children.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Educational Effects of Electronic Documents and Videos on Parents' Responses to Acute Illness in Young Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Japan journal of nursing science : JJNS · 2026Trial
- Low Parental Participation in a Randomised Clinical Trial of Video Tutorials: A Qualitative Study.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Trial
- How parents express their worry in calls to a medical helpline: a mixed methods study.BMC primary care · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Impact of caller's degree-of-worry on triage response in out-of-hours telephone consultations: a randomized controlled trial.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2019Trial
- Giving callers the option to bypass the telephone waiting line in out-of-hours services: a comparative intervention study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2019Trial
- Development and evaluation of an "emergency access button" in Danish out-of-hours primary care: a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.BMC health services research · 2017Trial
- Incidence and causes of unplanned acute care revisits after pediatric tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy: a systematic review.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2026Review
- Parents' Motivations for Calling an Out-of-Hours Helpline: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Video triage of children with respiratory symptoms at a medical helpline is safe and feasible-a prospective quality improvement study.PloS one · 2023Article
- Knowledge and Practices of Child Eye Healthcare Among Parents in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2022Article
- Navigating uncertain illness trajectories for young children with serious infectious illness: a modified grounded theory study.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Parents' experiences caring for children with acute otitis media: a qualitative analysis.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- "We can't do without it": Parent and call-handler experiences of video triage of children at a medical helpline.PloS one · 2022Article
- Age-related differences in motives for contacting out-of-hours primary care: a cross-sectional questionnaire study in Denmark.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2020Article
- Patient motives for contacting out-of-hours care in Denmark: a cross-sectional study.BMC emergency medicine · 2020Observational
- 'Clinically unnecessary' use of emergency and urgent care: A realist review of patients' decision making.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2020Review
- A conceptual model of urgent care sense-making and help-seeking: a qualitative interview study of urgent care users in England.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Factors related to out-of-hours help-seeking for acute health problems: a survey study using case scenarios.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Who attends out-of-hours general practice appointments? Analysis of a patient cohort accessing new out-of-hours units.BMJ open · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChildren are more frequent users of out-of-hours primary care than other age groups, although their medical problems are less urgent.
aimTo gain insight into the health-seeking behaviour of parents who ask for immediate medical attention for their children. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative analysis of interviews and telephone calls.
settingA general practice out-of-hours cooperative that caters for approximately 300,000 people in The Netherlands.
methodA semi-structured interview was conducted with 27 parents who had consulted their own GP or an out-of-hours facility for primary care because they wanted urgent medical attention for their child who was sick. Forty-four telephone calls from parents seeking medical care for a child were analysed.
resultsRecognising symptoms in a child started with the observation of a deviation from the child's normal appearance or behaviour. Parents decided to contact medical services when they felt they lost control of the situation. Most parents consulted because they wanted to rule out or prevent serious disease, not because of the condition itself; not wanting to take a risk with their child was an important motivation. In an attempt to rule out serious disease at home, parents also attempted diagnostic procedures they had copied from professionals.
conclusionWorry of parents and their health-seeking behaviour can be seen as an expression of the central role of risk regulation in modern society. Doctors need to realise their own contribution to the way parents want to rule out serious disease in their children. Improving parents' knowledge will not solve the problem of inappropriate use of out-of-hours facilities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.