Abstract
Objective: High fever is one of the most common reasons for emergency room visits in paediatric populations and the most important cause of high fever is infectious diseases. In this study, our aim was to assess the level of awareness on high-fever among mothers of children presenting to emergency room with high fever and to determine areas of low awareness.
Material and Methods: A total of 1099 mothers of children presenting to the emergency or outpatient units of the Department of Paediatrics, Zeynep Kamil Research and Training Hospital were interviewed for the study purposes. A total of 13 questions were directed to mothers. Two levels of awareness were defi ned on the basis of total scores, i.e. low awareness (0 to 3 points) and good awareness (4 to 5 points).
Results: Of all the mothers, 594 (%54) were between 26 and 35 years of age, 893 (%81.3) were housewives, and 660 (%60.2) had a primary school education. A total of 799 mothers (%72.7) had 1 to 2 children, and 616 (%56.5) had a monthly income level below 1000 Turkish Liras (TRY). A statistically signifi cant inverse association between level of awareness on high-fever and age was observed (p=0.0001), with older mothers having signifi cantly lower levels of awareness. Also, there was a signifi cant association between occupational status and awareness level (p=0.0001), housewives having a statically lower awareness as compared to those mothers offi cially employed. Similarly, mothers with a university degree had signifi cantly higher levels of awareness regarding the high-fever as compared to mothers with a lower educational background (p=0.0001). Also mothers with a monthly income exceeding TRY 2,000 had higher level of awareness in comparison with those with lower monthly income (p=0.002).
Conclusion: While ageing was associated with a continuously decreasing level of awareness, particularly among housewives, higher levels of education and socio-cultural status were associated with higher levels of awareness
Keywords: Mother, Fever, Knowledge, Level of awareness, Children
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