Objective: Fever alone can lead to rare serious complications in children, such as febrile seizures. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and behavior of parents toward fever and its management. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was applied over a period of 3 months, from January to March 2018, to parents who were living in Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criteria were a parent who is a resident of Saudi Arabia, with at least one child aged 6 years or less, while incomplete questionnaires, having a child aged more than 6 years, or parents who were not living in Saudi Arabia were excluded. Results: A total of 656 parents completed the questionnaire. More than two-thirds of the subjects were female, the majority of whom were aged between 25–33 years old. The best-reported place to measure the temperature of children was the armpit (46%), followed by the ear (28%) and the mouth (10.7%). More than half of the parents considered their children feverish at a temperature of 38 °C. The majority of parents (79.7%) reported that the most serious side effects of fever were seizure, brain damage (39.3%), coma (29.9%), dehydration (29.7%), and death (25%). The most common method used to measure a child’s temperature was an electronic thermometer (62.3%). The most common antipyretic was paracetamol (84.5%). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the good knowledge of parents in identifying a feverish temperature using the recommended route and tools for measuring body temperature.

中文翻译：

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沙特阿拉伯父母对儿童发烧管理的信念和行为的评估—跨部门研究

目的：仅发烧会导致儿童罕见的严重并发症，例如高热惊厥。这项研究的目的是评估父母对发烧及其管理的知识，信念和行为。方法：自2018年1月至2018年3月，在3个月的时间内对居住在沙特阿拉伯的父母进行了一项使用在线问卷的横断面研究。纳入标准为父母是沙特阿拉伯居民，并且至少有一个6岁或以下的孩子，而不完整的问卷调查，一个6岁以上的孩子或未居住在沙特阿拉伯的父母被排除在外。结果：共有656位家长完成了问卷。超过三分之二的受试者是女性，其中大多数年龄在25-33岁之间。报告最多的测量儿童体温的地方是腋下（46％），其次是耳朵（28％）和嘴巴（10.7％）。超过一半的父母认为他们的孩子在38°C的温度下发烧。大多数父母（79.7％）报告说，发烧最严重的副作用是癫痫发作，脑损伤（39.3％），昏迷（29.9％），脱水（29.7％）和死亡（25％）。用于测量儿童体温的最常见方法是电子体温计（62.3％）。最常见的退烧药是扑热息痛（84.5％）。结论：我们的研究证明了父母使用推荐的测量体温的途径和工具确定发烧温度的丰富知识。超过一半的父母认为他们的孩子在38°C的温度下发烧。大多数父母（79.7％）报告说，发烧最严重的副作用是癫痫发作，脑损伤（39.3％），昏迷（29.9％），脱水（29.7％）和死亡（25％）。用于测量儿童体温的最常见方法是电子体温计（62.3％）。最常见的退烧药是扑热息痛（84.5％）。结论：我们的研究证明了父母使用推荐的测量体温的途径和工具确定发烧温度的丰富知识。超过一半的父母认为他们的孩子在38°C的温度下发烧。大多数父母（79.7％）报告说，发烧最严重的副作用是癫痫发作，脑损伤（39.3％），昏迷（29.9％），脱水（29.7％）和死亡（25％）。用于测量儿童体温的最常见方法是电子体温计（62.3％）。最常见的退烧药是扑热息痛（84.5％）。结论：我们的研究证明了父母使用推荐的测量体温的途径和工具确定发烧温度的丰富知识。用于测量儿童体温的最常见方法是电子体温计（62.3％）。最常见的退烧药是扑热息痛（84.5％）。结论：我们的研究证明了父母使用推荐的测量体温的途径和工具确定发烧温度的丰富知识。用于测量儿童体温的最常见方法是电子体温计（62.3％）。最常见的退烧药是扑热息痛（84.5％）。结论：我们的研究证明了父母使用推荐的测量体温的途径和工具确定发烧温度的丰富知识。