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[Self health care when faced with acute pathology in childhood]
P A Oriol Torón1, S Lou Arnal, M J Blasco Pérez-Aramendía
1Centro de Salud Valdefierro, Zaragoza.
Objective:
To quantify and describe the self-care practices for children up to 14 seeking care because of an acute pathology.
Design:
An observation study carried out by means of a questionnaire administered to the person accompanying the patient.
Setting:
Primary Care: an urban Health Centre.
Patients And Other Participants:
The total number of cases of acute pathology treated during April and May 1993 in the Centre's paediatric clinics.
Measurements And Main Results:
248 cases were studied (53% boys and 47% girls, with an average age of 5.3 +/- 3.85). Self-care (self-medication, 84.6%; non-pharmacological measures, 11.5%; both of these, 3.9%) was practised in 61.3% of cases (CI 95%: 55.2-67.4). The most common drugs were: antipyretics-analgesics (60%), antitussives (9.6%) and antibiotics (8.1%). Self-care was practised most often on patients presenting respiratory symptoms (69.6%) (p < 0.001), with self-medication predominant (91.2%) (p < 0.001). The number of days occurring between the appearance of symptoms and the medical consultation was greater among those who did not practise self-care (4.5 +/- 5.2 as against 2.1 +/- 1.8) (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Self-care is a very common practice among people seeking paediatric treatment. Self-medication, especially for respiratory trouble, is the most common form. Patients who practise self-care tend to be earlier in seeking a medical consultation.