Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever

Objective:The aims of this study were to investigate the general characteristics of the patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department with fever, to determine the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of the families and the admission to the emergency department,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ülkem Koçoğlu Barlas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Galenos Yayinevi 2020-09-01
Series:Bagcilar Medical Bulletin
Subjects:
Online Access: http://behmedicalbulletin.org/archives/archive-detail/article-preview/short-term-results-of-patients-presented-to-the-pe/40064
_version_ 1828021854545117184
author Ülkem Koçoğlu Barlas
author_facet Ülkem Koçoğlu Barlas
author_sort Ülkem Koçoğlu Barlas
collection DOAJ
description Objective:The aims of this study were to investigate the general characteristics of the patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department with fever, to determine the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of the families and the admission to the emergency department, to investigate the relationship between the treatments administered and the duration of fever reduction, and to evaluate the impacts of fever on the life of the child and the family during the period after admitting to emergency department.Method:The study group consisted of patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department with the complaint of fever between 5th of March and 31st of May 2009 and whose measured axillary temperature was 38 °C and above. The physical examination of the patients was performed, treatment was arranged in accordance with their diagnoses and the information was obtained from the parents about the socio-demographic characteristics of the families. Parents who were reached after 7-10 days were asked questions about the duration of fever reduction, whether there was a need to apply to another health institution, the methods used to reduce the fever and whether the child attended school.Results:Two hundred forty five patients were included in the study: however, as 17 parents could not be reached at the controls after 7-10 days, the study was completed using the data of 228 patients. 73.1% of the patients were admitted to our emergency department within the first 24 hours after the onset of fever. A total of 57 patients (23.3%) were prescribed only antipyretic treatment, 181 (73.9%) were prescribed antipyretic and antibiotic treatment, and seven (2.9%) were treated as hospitalized. It was learned that 189 patients (82.8%) had reduced fever while 39 patients (17.2%) were admitted to a health institution again. The school absenteeism rate in children aged 7 years and over was 72.9%.Conclusion:We think that there should be time for the anxiety reduction and education of patients, who are admitted with fever, and their relatives even in busy emergency departments and we suggest that antibiotic treatment should be reduced, and symptomatic treatment should be given at the first admission.
first_indexed 2024-04-10T11:58:57Z
format Article
id doaj.art-6006767966c8434cb5af78049e8e9425
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2547-9431
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-10T11:58:57Z
publishDate 2020-09-01
publisher Galenos Yayinevi
record_format Article
series Bagcilar Medical Bulletin
spelling doaj.art-6006767966c8434cb5af78049e8e94252023-02-15T16:16:40ZengGalenos YayineviBagcilar Medical Bulletin2547-94312020-09-0153828710.4274/BMB.galenos.2020.05.1713049054Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with FeverÜlkem Koçoğlu Barlas0 University of Health Sciences Turkey, Bağcılar Training and Research Hospital, Clinic of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, İstanbul, Turkey Objective:The aims of this study were to investigate the general characteristics of the patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department with fever, to determine the relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of the families and the admission to the emergency department, to investigate the relationship between the treatments administered and the duration of fever reduction, and to evaluate the impacts of fever on the life of the child and the family during the period after admitting to emergency department.Method:The study group consisted of patients who presented to the pediatric emergency department with the complaint of fever between 5th of March and 31st of May 2009 and whose measured axillary temperature was 38 °C and above. The physical examination of the patients was performed, treatment was arranged in accordance with their diagnoses and the information was obtained from the parents about the socio-demographic characteristics of the families. Parents who were reached after 7-10 days were asked questions about the duration of fever reduction, whether there was a need to apply to another health institution, the methods used to reduce the fever and whether the child attended school.Results:Two hundred forty five patients were included in the study: however, as 17 parents could not be reached at the controls after 7-10 days, the study was completed using the data of 228 patients. 73.1% of the patients were admitted to our emergency department within the first 24 hours after the onset of fever. A total of 57 patients (23.3%) were prescribed only antipyretic treatment, 181 (73.9%) were prescribed antipyretic and antibiotic treatment, and seven (2.9%) were treated as hospitalized. It was learned that 189 patients (82.8%) had reduced fever while 39 patients (17.2%) were admitted to a health institution again. The school absenteeism rate in children aged 7 years and over was 72.9%.Conclusion:We think that there should be time for the anxiety reduction and education of patients, who are admitted with fever, and their relatives even in busy emergency departments and we suggest that antibiotic treatment should be reduced, and symptomatic treatment should be given at the first admission. http://behmedicalbulletin.org/archives/archive-detail/article-preview/short-term-results-of-patients-presented-to-the-pe/40064 antibioticchildrenemergencyfever
spellingShingle Ülkem Koçoğlu Barlas
Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever
Bagcilar Medical Bulletin
antibiotic
children
emergency
fever
title Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever
title_full Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever
title_fullStr Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever
title_full_unstemmed Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever
title_short Short-term Results of Patients Presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with Fever
title_sort short term results of patients presented to the pediatric emergency department with fever
topic antibiotic
children
emergency
fever
url http://behmedicalbulletin.org/archives/archive-detail/article-preview/short-term-results-of-patients-presented-to-the-pe/40064
work_keys_str_mv AT ulkemkocoglubarlas shorttermresultsofpatientspresentedtothepediatricemergencydepartmentwithfever