PHYSICIANS' APPREHENSIONS IN MANAGING A FEBRILE CHILD

  Objectives: Fever in children under the age of 5 years can be a diagnostic challenge for pediatricians and primary care physicians since it is often complicated to recognize the rationale. In this study, we intend to ascertain their understanding, attitudes and misapprehensions concerning fever in children.Methods: This transversal study was conducted from March to August 2014 by adopting a pre-validated questionnaire. The study population comprised of physicians working in different public and private sector hospitals and clinics of Karachi. Descriptive statistics was employed to acquire the response of respondents to questionnaire items. Kruskal-Wallis H test was executed to evaluate the association of gender, position, experience and institution of physicians with their responses.Results: The response rate for filling the questionnaire was 71%. More than 97% considered fever risky for a child, 92.25% considered that neurological disorders, seizures and fatality are problems associated with fever. More than 95% opined that when the fever increases then the possibility of febrile convulsions increases. High fever was considered as a sign of severe bacterial infection by majority (90.14%) of participants. Many (79%) opined that the body temperature of above 38°C must absolutely be treated in spite of the causal pathology. Majority of the physicians recommended physical methods such as baths (90.14%), cold application, (82.39%) and rubbing the body with alcohol (28.87%) to be utilized in reducing fever.Conclusion: The study revealed that there were misapprehensions about fever and its associated problems. This demands the execution of educational intervention employing international guiding principles concerning the appropriate management of the febrile child.Keywords: Fever, Physicians, Febrile child, Pakistan