ArticleBMJ open2018
Development and evaluation of a hospital discharge information package to empower parents in caring for a child with a fever.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Understanding parents' decisions to seek care for children with serious bacterial infections: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Parents' experiences of telephone nursing when their child has a fever: a mixed method study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Understanding Childhood Fever: A Qualitative Study of Family Attitudes, Emotions, and Caregiving Practices.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Digital healthcare interventions to support parents with acutely ill children at home: A systematic review.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Safety netting advice for acutely ill children presenting to ambulatory care: exploring parents' opinions, ideas, and expectations through focus group interviews.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Assessing artificial intelligence-generated patient discharge information for the emergency department: a pilot study.International journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Optimising GPs' communication of advice to facilitate patients' self-care and prompt follow-up when the diagnosis is uncertain: a realist review of 'safety-netting' in primary care.BMJ quality & safety · 2022Review
- Characteristics and management of adolescents attending the ED with fever: a prospective multicentre study.BMJ open · 2022Article
- "You Never Exhale Fully Because You're Not Sure What's NEXT": Parents' Experiences of Stress Caring for Children With Chronic Conditions.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
- Parental assessment of disease severity in febrile children under 5 years of age: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2021Article
- "How to Recognize if Your Child Is Seriously Ill" During COVID-19 Lockdown: An Evaluation of Parents' Confidence and Health-Seeking Behaviors.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2020Article
- Beliefs, Practices and Health Care Seeking Behavior of Parents Regarding Fever in Children.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2019Article
- Analysis on childhood fever health information seeking behaviors in online health community using a mixed-methods approach.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesFirst, to explore parents' views on and experiences of managing their febrile child and to assess their behaviour and needs when in search of information about fever; second, to develop and evaluate a hospital discharge information package about fever in children.
designMixed methods: (A) qualitative study with semistructured interviews and a focus group discussion (FGD) and (B) quantitative survey.
settingEmergency department, non-acute hospital setting and day nursery in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
participantsParents of children <18 years (interviews, n=22) parents of children under 5 years (FGD (n=14), survey (n=38)).
interventionInformation package about fever in children (leaflet and website including videos). OUTCOME MEASURES QUANTITATIVE SURVEY: Knowledge of fever and confidence in caring for a febrile child (Likert scale 0-5).
resultsParents found fever mostly alarming, especially high fever. Help-seeking behaviour was based on either specific symptoms or on an undefined intuition. When parents did not feel recognised in their concern or felt criticised, anxiety increased as well as the threshold to seek healthcare for future illnesses. Information was needed, especially for situations when the general practitioner or social network were less easily available. This information should be reliable, consistent, available in multiple formats and include advice on management of fever at home and precise referral to medical services. Parents reported improved knowledge about fever (p<0.05) and mentioned improved confidence in caring for a child with fever at home after consulting the information package.
conclusionParents of children with a fever visiting the hospital are concerned about specific symptoms or based on an undefined intuition. Rather than telling parents that they should manage their child's illness at home, healthcare professionals should recognise parental intuition and provide clear information on alarming signs and potential diagnoses to empower parents in the management of their febrile child.
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Registered trials
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