Educational interventions on fever management in children: A scoping review

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have been conducted specifically to target “fever phobia” and inappropriate fever management skills. However, despite educational intervention, caregivers continue to adopt inappropriate and non‐evidence‐based practices. AIMS: To collect and examine peer‐reviewed literature for active educational interventions aimed at improving fever management in children and profile them based on: who provided the training, training location, how the intervention was delivered, outcomes of training, and how it was measured. DESIGN: Scoping Review. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PubMED, PsycINFO, and IPA were searched from January 1980–December 2016. Study location, type of intervention, intervention target, study aim(s), sample size, instruments, outcome measures, and results were extracted. RESULTS: Thirty‐seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Most targeted parents with the remainder focused on healthcare professionals. The interventions and their outcome measures varied significantly from structured group training sessions to video interventions and many using a combination of methods. Most interventions reported a positive impact in outcomes such as knowledge, health service use, or fever management skills. CONCLUSION: More standardized educational platforms targeted at both caregivers and healthcare professionals with appropriate evaluation methods should be developed and made widely available.