• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.702-713
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of internet information about childhood fever and fever management. A total of 48 web sites with information about childhood fever and fever management in Korea were analyzed. Each web site was evaluated in terms of degree of the latest, creator, source, disclosure, and the accuracy of information. Accuracy of information was checked by comparison with published childhood fever management guidelines and current best evidences. The quality of internet information about fever and fever management was generally poor and not consistent. Moreover, it did not reflected current scientific evidences. It is important that parents should aware of these deficiencies and internet information can not substitute for consultation with health care professionals. Moreover, there was an urgent need to improve evidence-based fever management information on the internet.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.113-122
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• 2014

Purpose: Purposes of this study were to identify the level of parental fever phobia and to investigate the relationship between level of parental concern about fever and related variables. Methods: Participants were 151 parents of children who visited a pediatric outpatient clinic. A selfreported structured questionnaire was used for data collection and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ${\chi}^2$-test. Results: Almost half of participants defined a minimum temperature for fever as $37.8^{\circ}C$ and a minimum temperature for high fever as $38.9^{\circ}C$. About 75% of participants identified harmful effects of fever as seizure and brain damage, were 'very worried' about fever, measured their child's temperature every hour or less, provided tepid massage and woke children to give antipyretics during febrile illness. There were significant relationships between level of parental concerns about fever and prior experience of febrile seizures, and/or being parents of a single child. Conclusion: Results indicate that fever phobia is prevalent among parents. Further studies are needed to develop and evaluate childhood fever management educational programs for parents. Considering health care providers as a primary information resource about fever management, health care providers should play a vital role to reduce parental unrealistic concerns about fever.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2008

Purpose: Urinary tract infections(UTIs) are not uncommon findings in febrile pediatric patients and approximately one third of patients with UTI may have renal scars. This research was intended to establish the relationship between duration of fever and renal scars. Methods: The medical records of 143 patients were reviewed retrospectively. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) fever as defined by an axillary temperature $\geq37.5^{\circ}C$, 2) accurate history of fever duration and the use of antibiotics 3) no previous history of UTI and 4) positive urine culture. We observed whether the longer fever duration could be associated with the development of initial renal defects and subsequent renal scars, increased C-reactive protein(CRP), leukocytosis and the presence of vesicoureteral reflux(VUR). Results: 1) Patients with longer fever duration after antibiotics showed more frequent initial renal defects(P=0.014). However, fever duration before antibiotic use was not associated with the development of initial renal defects(P=0.244). 2) Incidence of renal scar increased with fever duration before antibiotic use(P=0.006) and fever duration after antibiotic use(P=0.015). 3) CRP correlated with the fever duration after antibiotic use(r=0.287, P=0.003). 4) There was no relationships between fever duration and VUR(P>0.05). Conclusion: Our data suggest that fever duration before/after antibiotic use is significantly associated with the increased development of renal scars in pediatric UTI.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.1237-1244
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• 2021

Objectives: Drug fever and procedure-related fever are the causes of nosocomial fever. Oriental medicine has been practiced in Asia and is now being practiced as an alternative medicine in western countries. No data are available on the incidence of drug fever and procedure-related fever in oriental medical hospitals (OMHs). The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of drug fever related to oriental herbal medicine and oriental medical procedure-related fever. Methods: This was a retrospective study at one OMH of a university medical institute in Seoul, Korea, conducted from June 2006 to June 2013. Results: Overall, 95 episodes of drug fever occurred among 10880 patients treated with herbal medicine (0.89%). Peak body temperature was 38.37±0.58 ℃, and the fever lasted for 1.0 day (range 1.0-17.0 days). Eosinophilia was found in 15 patients (15.79%) and 8 patients developed toxic hepatitis (8.42%). Five patients had a drug-related skin rash (5.26%). The most common ingredients of the herbal medicines associated with drug fever were licorice, Angelica gigas root, and white Atractylodes rhizome. In total, 16 episodes of procedure-related fever (0.20%) occurred in 8125 patients treated with oriental medical procedures. The peak body temperature was 38.26±0.51 ℃, and the fever lasted for 1.0 day (range 1.0-3.0 days). Among various oriental medical procedures, moxibustion was the most common procedure related to fever, followed by acupuncture. Conclusions: The incidence of drug fever and procedure-related fever in oriental medicine is not high compared with the incidence in western medicine.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.190-200
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• 2020

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify correlations between how much fever management information mothers obtained from the internet and their actual knowledge and practices of fever management. Methods: This was a descriptive survey of 172 mothers with children aged between 0 and 3 attending five daycare centers located in the city of Daegu. Descriptive statistics, the independent t-test or one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients were used for data analysis. Results: In total, 75% of the mothers had searched the internet for information on fever management. The overwhelming majority (92.2%) used information from the internet to help manage fever in their children. Positive correlations were found between acquiring fever management information from the internet and fever management practices (r=.18, p=.038), and between mother's knowledge and practices of fever management (r=.27, p<.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, to improve fever management practices, it is necessary to increase mothers' knowledge. Therefore, resources should be developed to augment mothers' knowledge of fever management through the internet.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2010

Purpose: The purposes of this review were to identify whether available evidence supports the nursing interventions that are commonly used to reduce fever in children and to introduce research findings into practice. Methods: Journal databases and clinical guidelines from 1990 to 2009 were searched. The search terms were fever, febrile convulsion, fever management, fever phobia, child, antipyretics, temperature, external cooling, tepid sponge bath, and physical treatment. Results: Evidence suggests that uncomplicated fever is relatively harmless, but it is an important immunological defense. Antipyretics should not routinely be used with the sole aim of reducing body temperature in children with fever who are otherwise well. Currently a lack of evidence supports the practice of alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen, and the routine use of tepid sponge bath. Conclusion: Currently, fever management in children does not reflect research evidence. Pediatric nurses can play an important role by encouraging clinical research in this area and also by enhancing research utilization in their practice. Moreover, pediatric nurses can educate parents about evidence-based fever management. Evidence-based educational interventions for pediatric nurses need to be developed and evaluated to improve the quality of nursing care in the management of childhood fever.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.20-25
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• 2006

Background: Although fever is one of the most common and challenging problem in intensive care medicine(ICU), it is difficult to distinguish between infectious and non-infectious causes. Procalcitonin(PCT) has recently been reported to be an indicator of various infectious diseases. This study examined whether or not measuring the serum PCT level in patients with fever in the ICU can help distinguish fevers with infectious causes from those with non-infectious causes. Methods: ICU patients with fever at $38^{\circ}C$ or over from March to August 2005 were prospectively enrolled. The cause of the fever was identified by the culture results and clinical course. The leukocytes, CRP, PCT, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ in the fever patients with infectious and non-infectious causes were compared, and the PCT level in the patients with fever in the ICU were compared with those without fever. Results: 1) 42 patients were enrolled and 46 cases of fever were analyzed. 26 cases were considered to be infectious, while 13 cases were considered to be non-infectious. 7 cases were found to have no clear causes. 2) There were no significant differences in the degree of fever, leukocytes count, CRP, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ levels in the patiemts with infectious and non-infectious causes. 3) The serum PCT level was higher in those with infectious causes than in those with non-infectious causes ($15.1{\pm}32.57ng/mL$ vs $2.68{\pm}3.63ng/mL$) but there was no statistical significance (p=0.06). 4) The serum PCT level of the ICU patients with fever was significantly higher than in those without fever ($10.94{\pm}27.15ng/mL$ vs $0.45{\pm}0.49ng/mL$) (p=0.02). Conclusion: The serum PCT cannot be used to distinguish the fever in ICU patients with infectious causes from that with non-infectious causes.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.96-104
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• 2013

Purpose: The specific aims of this study were to define fever from the nurse's and physician's perspectives, describe fever management method and decision-making, and identify differences of definition of fever and fever managements between nurses and physicians. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a 23-item questionnaire was used. A total of 305 nurses and physicians were surveyed, and 246 useful questionnaires were returned. Results: Body temperature of $36.5{\sim}38.3^{\circ}C$ were considered as adult febrile, and fever managements were initiated when the temperature was $37.0{\sim}38.0^{\circ}C$. More than half of the nurses and physicians, made a clinical decision regarding fever managements based on their own experiences. The most frequently used interventions in nursing practice were antipyretics, intravenous hydration, and external cooling. Nurses provided external cooling to lower body temperature than physicians (Z=-4.67, p<.001). Most participants reported that they needed a fever management protocol. Conclusion: Based on the information obtained, nurses respond with sensitivity to lower body temperature. We found significant differences among nurses, between nurses and physicians in approaching care of adult febrile patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.169-178
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• 2000

Background : Usually fever subsides within one week in over 90% of pulmonary tuberculosis (TBp) patients after the start of short-course anti-tuberculosis therapy, but occasionally it persists over two weeks after treatment. When the fever persists, drug resistance, combined infection, or drug fever, and so on, are considered as an etiology and, in some cases, drugs are changed. But inadvertent discontinuation of a short-course regimen inevitably will extend the duration of treatment, and the treatment completion may be delayed. This study was performed to investigate the causes of prolonged fever (PF) and to identify the predictors of PF in drug-susceptible TBp patients in Korea. Method : Five hundred-ninety-eight patients, who were admitted to Asan Medical Center from January 1996 to March 1999, diagnosed with TBp and prescribed short-course, anti-tuberculosis treatment, were reviewed. PF was defined as having fever over two weeks despite treatment. The causes of PF were analyzed. Drug-sus-ceptible TBp patients who presented no causes for PF, except turberculosis itself, were selected(n=22), and they were compared with those who had no fever at diagnosis (n=22) and those who had fever at diagnosis, which had subsided within two weeks after treatment (n=22). Clinical, laboratory, and radiological parameters were compared among the three groups. Results : Twenty-eight (4.8%) of 598 patients showed PF over two weeks despite short-course treatment. The causes of PF were drug fever (n=2), multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (n=3), disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection (n=1), and drug-susceptible tuberculosis itself (n=22). The patients with PF had more risk factors for tuberculosis, long duration of symptoms before treatment, night sweats, weight long, numerous acid fast bacilli on sputum smear, anemia, hyponatremia, hypoalbuminemia, over three lung cavity numbers and extensive infiltration, indicating that they had prolonged and extensive lung diseases. Conclusion : The main cause of PF in TBp despite short-course regimen seems to be drug-susceptible but extensive disease in Korea. Any changes to the drug regiment provided for TBp patients with prolonged fever despite treatment should be carefully considered.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.324-333
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• 2010

Purpose: Fever is a common symptom of illness in children that is often misunderstood and inappropriately managed by parents. The purposes of this study were to investigate perception, knowledge of childhood fever and fever management and self-efficacy in fever management by parents and to identify the relationship between knowledge of childhood fever and fever management, and self-efficacy in management of fever. Methods: A descriptive correlation study was used with 101 parents of children ages 3 months to 5 yr who were seen in a pediatric outpatient clinic. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, t-test or ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficients were used for data analysis. Results: Many parents reported a high level of fear about fever and its possible complications. Most parents used over-the-counter medications to reduce fever even when their children had mild to moderate fever. The mean correct percent on the knowledge scale was 51.0%. Most parents did not recognize the benefits of fever. There were statistically significant positive correlations between knowledge of fever and fever management and self-efficacy in management of fever. Conclusion: The results indicate a need to develop and evaluate educational programs that will provide parent education on fever and fever management.