Abstract
Background: Current guidelines emphasise prudent use of paracetamol in febrile children without pain. Little evidence is available on paracetamol administration by parents in general and post-GP-consultations. Objectives: To investigate if and how often parents of febrile children administer paracetamol to their child after consulting a GP during out-of-hours care. To explore if condition (painful or not), socio-economic status and age influenced this behaviour. Methods: This was a pre-planned secondary study, attached to an RCT (n?=?25,355) that studied the effect of an illness-focused interactive booklet on antibiotic prescriptions in febrile children between three months and 12?years, at 20 GP out-of-hours centres across the Netherlands. Baseline data and ICPC codes were retrieved from the GP out-of-hours centre database. During a telephone survey two weeks after consulting a GP out-of-hours centre, a random sample of parents was asked if and how often they had given their child paracetamol. Results: Parents of 548 children participated. Most parents administrated paracetamol for two weeks after consulting (83.8%). Children received 11 doses on average during follow-up (maximum 72 doses). Paracetamol administration increased with age. Age three to six months received paracetamol in 68% (17/25) of the cases versus 89.6% (121/135) in children aged five to twelve years. Frequency of paracetamol administration was similar for most common infections, regardless of being painful or painless. Conclusion: Most children who consulted out-of-hours general practice for fever and common infections received paracetamol at home during their illness episode, regardless of a painful condition being present. Paracetamol administration increased with age.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 21-25 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | European Journal of General Practice |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 15 Oct 2019 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Keywords
- Child
- infection
- general practice
- paracetamol
- CHILDREN