ArticleBMJ open2021
Parental assessment of disease severity in febrile children under 5 years of age: a qualitative study.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Signs and symptoms of serious illness in infants aged up to 6 months: rapid review of clinical guidelines.BMJ paediatrics open · 2024Pooled it
- Understanding parents' decisions to seek care for children with serious bacterial infections: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Parental Knowledge and Practices in Pediatric Fever Management Among Iranian Families: A Cross-Sectional Study.Pediatric reports · 2026Article
- Greater parental health literacy does not improve assessment of their child's emergency condition severity.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Observational
- Parental Ability to Identify Severe Illnesses in Their Children.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Assessing the validity of caregiver-perceived severity in pediatric traumatic brain injury: A comparative analysis with the Glasgow Coma Scale.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicine · 2026Article
- Understanding Childhood Fever: A Qualitative Study of Family Attitudes, Emotions, and Caregiving Practices.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Discursive Analysis of Pediatrician's Therapeutic Approach towards Childhood Fever and Its Contextual Differences: An Ethnomethodological Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Parents' Knowledge and Management of Fever: "Parents Versus Fever!"Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Article
- How patients in general practice voice and value their gut feelings about health: a qualitative interview study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Emergency medical services utilisation among febrile children attending emergency departments across Europe: an observational multicentre study.European journal of pediatrics · 2023Observational
- Parents' Experiences Caring for Children Diagnosed With Ear Infections: A Qualitative Analysis.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore how parents judge disease severity of their febrile child and to identify symptoms they associate with serious illness, minor illness or health.
designSemistructured interviews were conducted. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.
participantsParents of children aged 0-5 years with a febrile illness.
settingParticipants were recruited at the paediatric ward and the emergency department.
resultsTwenty-six interviews were conducted, in which 37 parents participated. Parents described disease severity of their child mainly in terms of changes in their child's normal characteristics (behaviour and physical features). They found it harder to describe specific disease symptoms such as dyspnoea or dehydration. Their child being active, eating and drinking well, and smiling were perceived as reassuring, whereas high fever, moving very little and uncertainty about the type of infections were mentioned as alarming symptoms. Previous experience with febrile illnesses in their children was of great influence on the number and accuracy of symptoms they reported.
conclusionParents used the normal behaviour and physical features of their child as a reference frame for judging disease severity. With a larger deviation from the child's normal characteristics, parents considered the illness more serious. They were less able to describe specific symptoms of disease such as dyspnoea or dehydration. This knowledge is important for clinicians in their communication with parents of children with febrile illness.
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