Impact of a single-session education program on parental knowledge of and approach to childhood fever

We evaluated knowledge of and approach to childhood fever in parents before and after attending a single reinforced educational session on the subject given by the pediatrician during a visit with their sick child. The study group consisted of 155 consecutive parents of children who visited the pediatrician for treatment of low-grade fever (<38.5 degrees C) once during the period of July 1999-2000, and again, within 6 months later. The parents received the standard short explanation for fever at the first visit and a reinforced educational session which included discussion supported by written and pictorial material at the second. At the follow-up examination, performed 3-7 days after each visit, the parents completed a questionnaire on their approach to the management of childhood fever, and the responses to the two questionnaires were compared. High-grade fever was correctly defined by 75% of the parents after the reinforced education session compared to 46% before, and over 95% of the parents correctly treated fever after the reinforced session compared to only 50% before. Knowledge of the correct utilization of health services was also improved after the intervention. All these differences were statistically significant. This study suggests that parental knowledge of fever management in children can be significantly improved by a reinforced educational session.