Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41178609›Full record

ArticleEmergency medicine Australasia : EMA2025

Paediatric Fever Management Practices and Antipyretic Use Among Doctors and Nurses in Australian Emergency Departments.

Anastasia Mutic, Rui Zhi Tan, Eunicia Tan, Michael C Fahey, Emily Callander, Libby Haskell, Shane George, Meredith L Borland, Naomi Loftus, Jeremy Furyk and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Anastasia MuticDepartment of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Rui Zhi TanDepartment of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Eunicia TanDepartment of Surgery, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-6296-3545
Michael C FaheyDepartment of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-0811-4785
Emily CallanderSchool of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7233-6804
Libby HaskellChildren's Emergency Department, Starship Children's Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-8706-3674
Shane GeorgeDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-8880-1245
Meredith L BorlandEmergency Department, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-5326-5008
Naomi LoftusDepartment of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0009-0006-4322-0179
Jeremy FurykUniversity Hospital Geelong, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-9503-0928
Natalie PhillipsChild Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Jane BourkeDepartment of Pharmacology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7314-9234
Stuart R DalzielChildren's Emergency Department, Starship Children's Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.
Simon CraigDepartment of Paediatrics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2594-1643
PREDICT Network

Funding

Cure KidsNational Health and Medical Research Council GNT2015060National Health and Medical Research Council GNT2024601
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo examine variation in practice and adherence to international clinical guidelines for the management of fever among Australian Emergency Department (ED) clinicians.

methodsCross-sectional survey across 22 Australian EDs. Clinical vignettes were used to determine compliance with international best practice guidelines (use of antipyretic monotherapy to alleviate fever-associated child distress) for paediatric fever treatment. Comparisons were made between specialist paediatric EDs and general (non-specialist paediatric) EDs, and between medical and nursing staff.

resultsOf 539 survey respondents (300 doctors, 239 nurses; overall response rate 65.9%), only 9.3% (50/539, 95% confidence interval [CI] 7.1%-12.0%) adhered to evidence-based practice guidelines. Specialist paediatric ED clinicians demonstrated less than half the adherence of those from general EDs (5.4% [11/204] vs. 12.4% [38/307], difference -7.0%, 95% CI -11.7% to -1.9%). In a febrile settled child with normal hydration, the proportion of respondents who opted for antipyretics more than doubled in the context of elevated vital signs (40.4% [218/539] vs. 83.1% [44/539], difference -42.7%, 95% CI -46.8% to -38.2%). Nearly half of respondents (239/539, 46.8%, 95% CI 42.4%-51.2%) endorsed giving combined antipyretic therapy. In a febrile settled child, most participants would give antipyretics for temperature reduction (453/539, 84.0%, 95% CI 80.7%-86.9%) and for decreased fluid intake (468/539, 87.5%, 95% CI 84.4%-90.0%). Over one-third (192/539, 36.0%, 95% CI 32.1%-40.2%) recommended using antipyretics for febrile convulsion prevention during the current illness.

conclusionsFewer than 10% of Australian ED clinicians self-report practice consistent with international consensus recommendations for paediatric fever management.

Indexed as

AntipyreticsEmergency Service, HospitalFeverPractice Patterns, Physicians'AdultAustraliaChildCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleGuideline AdherenceHumansMalePediatricsPhysiciansPractice Guidelines as TopicSurveys and QuestionnairesAntipyreticsantipyreticschildemergency departmentsfebrilefever

Identifiers

PMID41178609
PMCPMC12580986

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.