Objective: The objective of this study was to determine parents’ knowledge and attitudes on childhood fever, use of antipyretic drugs, and related factors.

Material and Methods: The study was performed with 400 parents who presented at the pediatric emergency department, had a child without a chronic disease, and accepted to participate in this study. All statistical data were analyzed by the SPSS for Windows version 13.0 program and statistical significance was defined as p<0.05.

Results: The mean age of the children was 4.98±4.28 years. The majority of the parents said that they measured fever from the axilla (n: 318, 79.5%) and 137 (34.3%) parents said that they considered a value of ≥38˚C as fever. Two hundred sixty-one parents (65.3%) stated that fever may be high during infections of influenza or common cold, 179 (44.8%) stated that fever may be high after vaccination, and 160 (40.0%) stated that fever may be high during the dentition period. The majority of families (n: 386, 96.5%) thought that fever could be harmful for children. The most preferred treatment method of fever was the use of an antipyretic drug (n: 314, 78.5%) and the most preferred drug was paracetamol (n: 376, 94.0%). However, only 169 (42.2%) parents had used medication at the appropriate dosage. The parents received information about antipyretic drugs from physicians (n: 368, 92.0%), pharmacists (n: 62, 15.5%), and nurses (n: 54, 13.5%).

Conclusion: The majority of families preferred antipyretic drugs in the treatment of fever, but only half of them had used the appropriate dose. Health professionals were the most common source of information about antipyretic drugs. Therefore, health professionals should educate parents about the description and causes of fever and the most appropriate approach to children with fever. This kind of education may prevent inappropriate applications for febrile children

Keywords: Knowledge of parents, Fever, Child