چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:Fever in children is common and mostly caused by benign self-limiting infections. Yet consultation
rates in primary care are high, especially during GP out-of-hours care. Therefore, we aimed to explore experiences
of parents when having visited GP out-of-hours services with their febrile child.
Methods:We performed a qualitative study using 20 semi-structured interviews among parents from different
backgrounds presenting to GP out-of-hours care with a febrile child <12 years. Questions were directed at parental
motivations, expectations and experiences when visiting the GP out-of-hours centre with a febrile child. Interviews
were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using constant comparison technique.
Results:We identified four main categories emerging from the data; (1) cautiously seeking care, (2) discrepancy
between rationality and emotion, (3) expecting reassurance from a professional and (4) a need for consistent,
reliable information. Not one symptom, but a combination of fever with other symptoms, made parents anxious
and drove care seeking. Although parents carefully considered when to seek care, they experienced increased
anxiety with increases in their child’s temperature. Because parents work during the day and fever typically rises
during the early evening, the decision to seek care wasoften made during out-of-hours care. When parents
consulted a GP they did not have any set expectations other than seeking reassurance, however a proper
physical examination diminished their anxiety. Parents did not demand antibiotics, but trusted on the expertise
of the GP to assess necessity. Parents requested consistent, reliable information on fever and self-management
strategies.
Conclusions:Parents were inexperienced in self-management strategies and had a subsequent desire for
reassurance; this played a pivotal role in out-of-hours help seeking for childhood fever. These factors provide
clues to optimise information exchange between GPs and parents, by providing written, tailored, consistent
information on self-management strategies for current and future fever episodes. GPs’ had incorrect assumptions that
parents expected antibiotic treatment.