Regional differences in symptomatic fever management among paediatricians in Switzerland: the results of a cross-sectional Web-based survey

Lava, Sebastiano A. G.; Simonetti, Giacomo D.; Ferrarini, Alessandra; Ramelli, Gian Paolo; Bianchetti, Mario G. (2013). Regional differences in symptomatic fever management among paediatricians in Switzerland: the results of a cross-sectional Web-based survey. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 75(1), pp. 236-243. Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04311.x

Full text not available from this repository.

AIMS

In symptomatic fever management, there is often a gap between everyday clinical practice and current evidence. We were interested to see whether the three linguistic regions of Switzerland differ in the management of fever.

METHODS

A close-ended questionnaire, sent to 900 Swiss paediatricians, was answered by 322 paediatricians. Two hundred and fourteen respondents were active in the German speaking, 78 in the French speaking and 30 in the Italian speaking region.

RESULTS

Paediatricians from the French and Italian speaking regions identify a lower temperature threshold for initiating a treatment and more frequently reduce it for children with a history of febrile seizures. A reduced general appearance leads more frequently to a lower threshold for treatment in the German speaking than in the French and Italian speaking areas. Among 1.5 and 5-year-old children the preference for the rectal route is more pronounced in the German than in the French speaking region. French speaking respondents more frequently prescribe ibuprofen and an alternating regimen with two drugs than German speaking respondents. Finally, the stated occurrence of exaggerated fear of fever was higher in the German and Italian speaking regions.

CONCLUSIONS

Switzerland offers the opportunity to compare three different regions with respect to management of febrile children. This inquiry shows regional differences in symptomatic fever management and in the perceived frequency of exaggerated fear of fever. The gap between available evidence and clinical practice is more pronounced in the French and in the Italian speaking regions than in the German speaking region.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Paediatric Medicine 04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Dermatology, Urology, Rheumatology, Nephrology, Osteoporosis (DURN) > Clinic of Nephrology and Hypertension
UniBE Contributor:	Simonetti, Giacomo, Bianchetti, Mario Giovanni
Subjects:	600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
ISSN:	0306-5251
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Language:	English
Submitter:	Anette van Dorland
Date Deposited:	10 Apr 2014 15:45
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:33
Publisher DOI:	10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04311.x
PubMed ID:	22533367
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/50251