# Maternal attitudes and practices toward childhood fever: insights from a large-scale survey of over 3,000 mothers

## TL;DR

This study surveyed over 3,000 mothers in Türkiye to understand their knowledge and practices regarding childhood fever, revealing common misconceptions and high anxiety levels.

## Contribution

The study provides a large-scale, descriptive analysis of maternal attitudes and practices toward childhood fever in Türkiye.

## Key findings

- Most mothers use digital thermometers, but some still use mercury thermometers.
- High parental anxiety and fear of febrile seizures were reported.
- Many mothers administer antipyretics too frequently and rely on unvalidated practices.

## Abstract

Fever is a common childhood symptom and a frequent source of parental concern. Despite medical advances, misconceptions and inappropriate management strategies remain widespread. This study aimed to describe maternal knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding childhood fever in Türkiye and to identify areas that may benefit from targeted education.

We conducted a cross-sectional, online survey using snowball sampling. A total of 3,133 mothers provided complete responses. The questionnaire assessed thermometer use, fever definitions, attitudes, and management practices. Descriptive statistics were reported, with exploratory comparisons conducted where relevant.

The mean age of the participants was 33.4 ± 6.0 years, and the average age at which they became mothers was 27.6 ± 6.7 years. Digital thermometers were the most commonly used devices (83.1%), while 13% reported use of mercury thermometers, likely reflecting legacy devices or misclassification. Fever was most frequently defined as ≥ 38 °C (42.7%). Parental anxiety scores were high (mean 7.7/10), with febrile seizures being the most feared complication (73.1%). Antipyretics were often given early and at short intervals, with 39% of mothers administering them every 4 h or less. While most mothers relied on physicians for information, some used unvalidated practices such as vinegar or alcohol rubs.

This large descriptive survey suggests that fever phobia and misconceptions persist among mothers in Türkiye. Findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the study’s design limitations, including non-representative sampling and lack of child-level age data. These results provide a baseline for future, representative studies and may help inform parental counseling strategies.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-025-06335-8.