Educating Parents about Fever in Childhood Evaluation of the Effect of an Information Leaflet

Hintergrund: Fieber gilt als wichtige Abwehrreaktion des Körpers bei Infekten und spielt im Kindesalter eine große Rolle. Unter Eltern sind immer noch Angst und Unsicherheit im Umgang mit Fieber weit verbreitet. Als Aufklärungsinstrument für Eltern können Informationsbroschüren zum Wissen und Umgang mit Fieber im Kindesalter dienen. Es wurde bisher noch nicht untersucht, ob diese Art der Informationsvermittlung ein geeignetes Werkzeug zur Aufklärung von Eltern darstellt. Methode: 16 Krippen und Kindergärten im Saarland wurden aufgesucht. 481 Elternteile von mindestens einem Kind zwischen 1 und 7 Jahren beantworteten einen Fragebogen zu Wissen, Umgang und Vorgehen bei Fieber im Rahmen von Infekten. Im Anschluss wurde eine Informationsbroschüre zu Fieber ausgehändigt. Am Folgetag wurde der Fragebogen erneut von denjenigen 190 Eltern beantwortet, welche die Informationsbroschüre gelesen hatten. Die Änderung durch Lektüre der Informationsbroschüre wurde analysiert. Ergebnisse: 40% der Teilnehmenden lasen die Informationsbroschüre. An der Nacherhebung nahmen 87% Mütter und 13% Väter teil. 10% der Nachbefragten hatten Hauptschulabschluss und 34% einen Universitätsabschluss. Nach der Lektüre wurde Fieber signifikant häufiger als nützlich angesehen und als Grund für eine Fiebersenkung wurden signifikant seltener Fieberkrämpfe und Folgeschäden genannt. Schlussfolgerung: Informationsbroschüren zu Fieber können ein ergänzendes Werkzeug zur Aufklärung darstellen, die kurzfristige Wirkung wird bestätigt, die Nachhaltigkeit muss weiter evaluiert werden. Es besteht zudem die Notwendigkeit die Mehrheit zu erreichen.Fever is an important immune reaction of the body in infections and plays a major role in childhood. Fear and uncertainty in dealing with fever are still widespread among parents. Information leaflets on the knowledge and handling of fever in childhood can serve as an educational tool for parents. It has not yet been investigated whether this type of information transfer is a suitable tool for educating parents

The predictors of spiritual dryness among Iranian cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundSpiritual struggles affect the wellbeing of religious people. Among them are strugglers with God which is perceived as non-responsive and distant. These perceptions were so far analyzed predominantly in Western societies with a Christian background, but not in Muslims from Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of spiritual dryness among cancer patients in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsCross-sectional study with standardized questionnaires (i.e., Spiritual Dryness Scale, WHO-5, BMLSS-10, Awe/Gratitude Scale) among 490 cancer patients (mean age 49.50 ± 14.92 years) referring to the selected educational hospitals in Tehran (the capital of Iran), who were selected through convenience sampling and based on the inclusion criteria, enrolled between December 2020–May 2021. Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 26 and the statistical methods including calculating the mean and the standard deviation, correlation coefficients, as well as regression analysis.ResultsThe overall experience of spiritual dryness was perceived regularly in 10.2% of Iranian cancer patients, sometimes in 22.9%, rarely in 22.9%, and never in 43.3%. The mean ± SD was 25.66 ± 5.04, and the scores ranged from 10 to 55. A higher score means greater spiritual dryness. The strongest predictors of spiritual dryness were praying activities Furthermore, the perception of burden due to the pandemic was positively correlated with spiritual dryness. Moreover, each 1 unit increase in its score changed the spiritual dryness score by 0.2 units. The regression of spirituality-related indicators, demographic-clinical variables, and health-related behaviors accounted for 21, 6, and 4% of the total SDS variance, respectively. These findings show that with an increase in praying, performing daily prayers, and the indicators related to spirituality, spiritual dryness will decrease. Most patients were able to cope with these phases often or even regularly, while 31.1% were never or rarely only able to cope.ConclusionThe results of this study showed that in times of crisis, cancer patients’ faith and confidence in God could be challenged. It is not the disease itself which seems to be associated with this form of crisis, but their religious practices. Therefore, it is necessary to support these patients during their struggle, especially as spirituality is one of the best approaches to cope with the disease

Perceptions of Spiritual Dryness in Iran During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study addresses perceptions of spiritual dryness (a specific form of spiritual struggle) during the COVID-19 pandemic among Iranian Muslims (n = 362), and how these perceptions can be predicted. Spiritual dryness was perceived often to regularly by 27% and occasionally by 35%. Regression models revealed that the best predictors of spiritual dryness (SDS-7) were usage of mood-enhancing medications, loneliness/social isolation and praying as positive predictors, and being restricted in daily life concerns as negative predictor. The pandemic challenges mental stability of people worldwide and may also challenge trust in God. Reliable and humble support of people experiencing these phases is required

Data Completeness and Concordance in the FeverApp Registry: Comparative Study

BackgroundThe FeverApp registry uses ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to collect parental data on pediatric fever for scientific research. The mobile app FeverApp educates parents on safe fever management and serves as a fever diary. ObjectiveThe focus of this study was to evaluate the completeness and concordance of the EMA-based FeverApp registry with regard to its data quality from a multilevel perspective. MethodsStructured descriptions of fever episodes by health care professionals from an office were used as reference. The number of children, their sociodemographic data, and agreement of fever episodes, with maximum temperature, intake of antipyretics and antibiotics, and physician visits, were compared with the entries in the corresponding physician’s reference records. The data quality indicators for completeness, meaning the extent to which the necessary data for the registry has actually been submitted, and concordance, which is the correspondence of the value of a data element with a reference source, were chosen to analyze whether EMA may be a suitable method for this kind of registry. ResultsIn both data sources, 1012 children were available for comparison over 16 months. The completeness of gender (1012/1012, 100%) and date of birth (1004/1012, 99.2%) information was high, and the mismatches were 0.69% (7/1012) and 1.19% (12/1012), respectively, between the sources. Of these 1012 children, 668 (66%) registered fever episodes in FeverApp. They relate to 534 families with 953 fever episodes in the reference records and 1452 episodes in the FeverApp registry. Of the 534 families, 183 (34.3%) refrained from visiting the office during fever episodes but nevertheless documented them in FeverApp. Largest part (766/1452, 52.75%) episodes were recorded exclusively in the FeverApp registry by 371 (371/534, 69.5%) families. The remaining 686 (47.2%) episodes of 391 (58.5%) children from 351 (65.7%) families were comparable with the reference data source in terms of physician visits, medication, and temperature. The completeness ranged, depending on the kind of variable, from 11.5% to 65% in the registry and from 7.6% to 42.6% in the office. The 953 fever episodes reported by the reference office consisted of 681 (71.5%) acute and 272 (28.5%) past episodes. In FeverApp, most past (262/272, 96.3%) but less acute (424/681, 62.3%) episodes have been entered. The concordance rates were varied: 90.2% for antibiotic use, 66.6% for antipyretic use, 61.7% for physician visits, and 16% for the highest temperature during the fever episode. ConclusionsBoth sources delivered only partial data, and the rates of completeness and concordance depended on the kind of variable. However, the FeverApp registry showed higher documentation and precision rates than professional records for all considered variables. Therefore, EMA may play a unique supplement for research in ambulatory care. FeverApp could support pediatric offices, especially during the pandemic