MANAGEMENT OF FEVER IN CHILDREN: KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF MOTHERS IN SOUTH-EAST NIGERIA
Ayogu EE*, Ukoha-kalu BO, Igboeli NU
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, University of Nigeria, 410001 Nsukka
Afr. J Pharm Res Dev; Volume 10(2): 051-059 ; 2018
ABSTRACT
Fever is one of the most common symptoms of different diseases in children. Management of febrile conditions by mothers is very important considering the fact that most times, mothers are the first to identify presence of fever in a child and the serious outcomes of prolonged fever in children. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge and practice of mothers in the management of fever in their children. A hospital-based survey was conducted in the paediatric, ante natal and immunization units of two secondary hospitals. A well-constructed and validated questionnaire was self-administered to mothers in these units. About 250 mothers participated, 58.1% were between the ages of 18-30 years; 46.8% had secondary school as their highest educational qualification and are mostly traders. More than half (58.4%) of the mothers perceive fever as, less than one third 21.6 and 22.8% identified malaria and teething as the possible causes of fever in children respectively. About half (45.6%) of them didn’t have thermometer at home, the most common antipyretic and antimalarial used paracetamol (80.4%) and artemether-lumefantrine (38.0%) respectively while antimalarial used while only a few (15.6%) gives antipyretic at the appropriate temperature. About 55.2% and 48.8% had good knowledge and practice towards fever management respectively. This study has shown that mothers in the study area still have poor knowledge of fever management, which is evident by the poor practice they exhibited. There is need for active fever management health education in our community.
Email of correspondence:ebere.ayogu@unn.edu.ng