Parental use of the term "Hot Qi" to describe symptoms in their children in Hong Kong: a cross sectional survey "Hot Qi" in children

BACKGROUND: The Chinese term "Hot Qi" is often used by parents to describe symptoms in their children. The current study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of using the Chinese term "Hot Qi" to describe symptoms in children by their parents and the symptomatology of "Hot Qi". METHOD: A cross sectional survey by face-to-face interview with a semi-structured questionnaire was carried out in a public hospital and a private clinic in Hong Kong. The parental use of the term "Hot Qi", the symptoms of "Hot Qi" and the remedies used for "Hot Qi" were asked. RESULTS: 1060 pairs of children and parents were interviewed. 903 (85.1%) of parents claimed that they had employed the term "Hot Qi" to describe their children's symptoms. Age of children and place of birth of parents were the predictors of parents using the term "Hot Qi". Eye discharge (37.2%), sore throat (33.9%), halitosis(32.8%), constipation(31.0%), and irritable (21.2%) were the top five symptoms of "Hot Qi" in children. The top five remedies for "Hot Qi" were the increased consumption of water (86.8%), fruit (72.5%), soup (70.5%), and the use of herbal beverages "five-flower- tea" (a combination of several flowers such as Chrysanthemum morifolii, Lonicera japonica, Bombax malabaricum, Sophora japonica, and Plumeria rubra) (57.6%) or selfheal fruit spike (Prunella vulgaris) (42.4%). CONCLUSION: "Hot Qi" is often used by Chinese parents to describe symptoms in their children in Hong Kong. Place of birth of parents and age of the children are main factors for parents to apply the term "Hot Qi" to describe symptoms of their children. The common symptoms of "Hot Qi" suggest infections or allergy.