Changing knowledge and attitudes about childhood fever: testing a video instruction before its application in a health app

BACKGROUND: Although infantile fever is harmless in most cases, many parents feel insecure when having to deal with it because important information is often missing. For educational purposes, an information video on fever in children was developed, which is also intended to serve as an onboarding element of a health app. The aim of the present work was to record the attitude of parents and adults on the topic of fever before and after the presentation of the information video, as well as its evaluation. METHODS: Between May and November 2020, a total of 123 adults from three groups with different backgrounds (students, parents and educators) were interviewed using a questionnaire that was completed before and after the one-time presentation of an educational information video clip. RESULTS: Several significant outcomes were recorded in attitude change toward managing fever, with no significant difference between groups. After viewing the informational video clip, 74% of participants would take body temperature rectally more often. In the after-questionnaire, 83% of participants agreed that they would now be more cautious about using fever-reducing medications. Before the video clip, 75% of the participants thought fever was “rather useful”; after, 93%. The level of temperature played a minor role as a reason for fever reduction. The information content and quality of the video were rated positively. DISCUSSION: This study shows that a short information video is capable of bringing about a subjectively perceived intentional change in the attitude to dealing with fever, motivating a change in behavior, and reducing uncertainty in dealing with fever. Since the change in attitude was measured immediately after viewing the video clip, no statement can be made about the medium to long-term effect. CONCLUSION: The information video clip can be classified as a short-term fever education tool for which at least short-term effective is demonstrated. Long-term and possible synergistic effects when integrated into a health app with further information still needs to be investigated.