1 Fever: Enemy or Friend? A comparison of the perception and management of childhood fever between parents in Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Hohen Medizinischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Danièle Christiane Anna Holper aus Den Haag/Niederlanden 2011
2 Angefertigt mit Genehmigung der Medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Bonn 1. Gutachter: Privatdozent Dr. Lutz Bindl 2. Gutachter: Professor Dr. Matthias Schrappe Tag der Mündlichen Prüfung: 12. Mai 2011 Aus der Kinderklinik des Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL), Luxemburg Direktor: Dr. A. Kerschen
3 Fir de Jupp an d Jamie
5 5 Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Background and objectives Introduction Fever and hyperthermia: definition, pathophysiology, effects and treatment Fever phobia: concerns, determinants and the physician s contribution Research question formulation Digression: Kurorten, uitzieken and a pill for every ill : building a socio-cultural framework An introduction to the medical culture in Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands Germany: High-tech medicine and Heilpraktiker The Netherlands: Letting the disease run its course Luxembourg: A pill for every ill Structural factors: Differences in health care organisation... 55
6 6 3. Methodology Search strategy and questionnaire development Sample size Sample population Selection criteria and study protocol Statistical analysis Results The questionnaires Socio-descriptive data Defining fever Defining fever: the lower limit Defining fever: the upper limit Beliefs about fever Combating bacteria and sweating out the germs : perceived beneficial effects of fever (Mis)conceptions about fever: the Luxembourgish have more fearful assumptions about fever than the German and Dutch caregivers Misconceptions about fever: an exploration Fever management
7 Measuring fever: rectal temperature recording prevails Starting fever treatment: German and Dutch parents start antipyretics at higher temperatures than parents from Luxembourg Fever treatment: Junifen syrup for kids in Luxembourg, paracetamol suppositories for Dutch and German kids Non-pharmacological measures: parents in Luxembourg and Germany use more physical methods to treat a fever Conclusions, discussion and limitations of the study On fever definition On the beneficial effects of fever On fever myths On fever measurements On starting fever treatment On fever treatment Paracetamol, ibuprofen or both?
8 8 5.8 On the consumption of medicine: Catholicism versus Protestantism? On non-pharmacological interventions Strengths and limitations of the study Summary Summary Zusammenfassung Appendix The questionnaire Statistical evaluations References Acknowledgements Lebenslauf
9 9 1. Background and objectives 1.1 Introduction `Gebt mir ein Mittel um Fieber hervorzurufen, und ich will alle Krankheiten heilen`. Prof. Dr Johann Christian Harleß ( ). Professor of Pharmacotherapy in Erlangen and of Anatomy in Bonn, Germany, cited in Bilz (1880). Humanity has but three great enemies: fever, famine and war. Of these, by far the greatest, by far the most terrible, is fever`. Osler ( ), cited in Blatteis (2003). The reason that I give them Nurofen, Panadol or whatever when they have their temperature is because the temperature gets to the level that I don t feel comfortable with. I start thinking of potential fitting or the fact that you know, their head is going to explode. Parent 13 in Walsh et al (2007 a).
10 10 Fever is one of the most common reasons parents of infants and young children seek medical care. Fever may be a sign of serious illness but in the majority of cases, the fever is caused by an infectious disease without any serious consequence (Baraff, 1993; Slater and Krug, 1999). Although important, fever is not the most important clinical sign of disease gravity; other signs of overall functioning are more important for clinical evaluation (Berger et al., 2008; Richardson et al., 2007). Opinions about the symptomatic treatment of fever have substantially changed in history. Until the mid-19 th century, fever was considered to be a healthy reaction to infection and was to be deliberately encouraged. This view has changed considerably and fever became progressively seen by physicians and their patients as deleterious to health and needing treatment. Nowadays there is increasing evidence of the beneficial effects of fever as a mediator of the immune response to infectious disease. More and more guidelines, for example from France, the USA, the Netherlands and the UK, advise fever lowering therapy only in case of discomfort (Armengaud et al., 2006;
11 11 Bantam, 2000; Berger et al., 2008 et al., 2008; Richardson et al., 2007). After the researcher had moved from the Netherlands to Luxembourg in 2006, she noticed that practicing general medicine was a completely different job compared to medicine in the training country, the Netherlands. One of the strikingly different features was parental preoccupation with fever: parents seemed to consult more often and earlier in the disease process and no matter what diagnosis or explanation, they would focus on the seemingly magic prescription. The therapy practiced by parents, and recommended by paediatricians, of combining several classes of antipyretics seemed to make no sense to the researcher. While trying to find out some explanation for this phenomenon she came across a whole body of literature on fever phobia. This term was coined by Barton Schmitt (1980), a North- American paediatrician, who found that parents had numerous fears and misconceptions about childhood fever. Fever phobia comprises beliefs such as untreated fever
12 12 leads to convulsions, fever causes cerebral damage, coma or death, fever will lead to dehydration and untreated fever will rise incessantly (Al-Eissa et al., 2000; Betz and Grunfeld 2006; Blumenthal, 1998; Eskerud et al., 1991; Karwowska et al., 2002; Crocetti et al., 2001; Impicciatore et al., 1998; Kai, 1996; Kramer et al., 1995; Lagerlov et al., 2003; Matziou et al. 2008; Mendez-Gonzalez, 2004; Schmitt, 1980; Stephenson, 1988; Tessler et al., 2008; Walsh et al., 2007a). Since Schmitt s initial findings, numerous studies have been published that more or less replicated his conclusions. The researcher wondered whether it was fever phobia that was at issue in the observation of overly worried parents and seemingly irrational therapies in Luxembourg. Since the 1990s numerous descriptive multi-centre studies on fever phobia have been published in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway, Italy, Greece, Saudi-Arabia, Israel, and the Arab Emirates. Although fever phobia is not likely to be restricted to these Anglo-Saxon and Mediterranean countries, there are no data on the prevalence
13 13 of fever phobia in Northern European countries (except for some concise data on Norway), such as Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Germany. Do parents from these Northern- European countries have the same beliefs about childhood fever as Anglo-Saxon, Mediterranean and Arab parents? Are they maybe less concerned about this symptom? Moreover, is there a difference between these three European countries? Comparison of Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands might prove to be interesting for a couple of reasons. These three wealthy Northern European countries have differing health care systems, with differing accessibility to specialist care, varying degrees of acceptance of practice guidelines, varying degrees of acceptance of complementary medicine, differing immigration patterns and different dominant religions. How these differences might relate to fever management and perception of fever will be explained in the next chapter. Fever as the main motive for consultation is especially high in young children. The incidence of fever as the chief
14 14 complaint for consultation is reported to be 122 per thousand children up to 1 year old, and 41,5 / 1000 children from 1 to 5 years old in the Netherlands, without any difference between the Dutch population and the non-western immigrants (Van der Linden et al., 2004). Studies from the USA indicate bigger numbers: fever is the primary complaint of 30 % of patients seen by paediatricians in practice and the cause of as many as 50 % of after-hours calls (Van der Jagt, 1997; Villareal et al., 1984). No data about Germany or Luxembourg could be identified. The cost of fever phobia is high. Parental beliefs about fever lead to uncomfortable and potentially harmful parental practices such as too frequent (rectal) measurements, nocturnal measurements, treatment of potentially normal temperatures, side-effects and intoxications of (combinations of) antipyretics, uncomfortable cooling methods and most of all unnecessary parental anxiety. In addition, repetitive fever-related consultations unnecessarily increase health care costs. The possibly redundant consultations expose children to the discomfort of blood work-up, to the side effects of
15 15 prescribed antipyretics and to risks associated with more antibiotic prescriptions: physicians who see a child for a second or third time for the same fever episode will be more inclined to prescribe an antibiotic out of fear for missing something and to reassure the parent. Better comprehension of parents knowledge and beliefs about fever and fever management could promote communication with parents and calm their anxious minds, it could improve the quality of care delivered to this young population by preventing harmful aggressive fever management strategies and save collateral damage from unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. In addition, costs in otherwise overburdened health care systems could be limited by a reduction in the number of redundant consultations. This research project was designed to provide data on the prevalence and nature of fever phobia in three Northern European countries and to generate a hypothetic explanatory framework for possible differing degrees of fever phobia between these countries.
16 16 In the next paragraphs some background literature will be presented on fever, hyperthermia and fever phobia, and the research question will be formulated. A separate chapter will be dedicated to structural and cultural differences between the three health care systems.
17 Fever and hyperthermia: definition, pathophysiology, effects and treatment Fever is part of the innate non-specific acute phase reaction, the primary host defence response to infection. It is defined as a state of elevated core temperature due to an elevation of the set-point of core temperature, actively established and defended by heat producing and heat conserving thermoeffectors (Blatteis, 2003). Because of its circadian rhythm, it is problematic to clearly define a febrile state by a specific value. In practice, however, a temperature above 38 C is considered a fever. An infection by micro-organisms triggers a partly elucidated cascade of reactions leading to a higher core temperature set-point of the hypothalamic preoptic area, the thermoregulation centre. It is a homeostatic process where core temperature is maintained in a specific interval that rarely exceeds 41 C (Mackowiak and Boulant, 1996). Excess body heat is produced by limiting the loss of heat by peripheral vasoconstriction. Shivering augments heat production by muscle activity. When the temperature set-
18 18 point is set back to physiological values, vasodilatation and transpiration lead to loss of excess heat (Blatteis et al., 2000). It is important to make a distinction between fever and hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is a state in which core temperature rises above the hypothalamic setpoint because regulation mechanisms have gone awry; the organism is incapable of expelling excess heat which allows temperature to rise above 41.5 C, causing brain damage and other complications. A risk of hyperthermia exists in case of intracerebral infections, the maligne neuroleptica syndrome, or when mechanisms to lose heat are limited as in the example of a sun-exposed unventilated parked car, or an overly wrapped up feverish child. Is fever good for us or are antipyretics necessary to counter an elevated temperature? Or do they actually negatively influence disease outcome? Since the febrile response has existed for millions of years, it is tempting to assume that this ancient reaction that also exists in other mammals,
19 19 reptiles, amphibians and fish, has to convey some survival benefit, otherwise it would have been lost during evolution. Increased survival with fever has been demonstrated in animal studies. In fact, the majority of animal studies (14 out of 21 studies) evaluated in one review demonstrated a deleterious effect of lowering body temperature (Ryan and Levy, 2003). Nevertheless, controlled studies in humans evaluating the benefits of fever, or the deleterious effect of antipyretics on disease evolution do not exist. Evidence, however, suggests that most febrile responses in humans are not dangerous and are, in fact, beneficial to infection control. Indirect indications that fever enhances survival come from prospective clinical studies of septic patients. For example, Swenson (2007) found that fever was positively correlated with survival in septic surgical patients. Van Dissel (2005) found a similar survival benefit for septic patients presenting rigors with high fever on admission. Blatteis et al. (2000) present an overview of numerous immune benefits of fever, which include enhanced neutrophil motility and migration,
20 20 increased antibody production and increased killing of intracellular bacteria amongst others. However, there is only scarce evidence to support the hypothesis that the administration of antipyretic agents would actually prolong disease in children. One placebocontrolled prospective study in 72 children with varicella showed that paracetamol delayed healing of the vesicles and prolonged scabbing (Doran et al., 1989). Despite theoretical concerns that paracetamol might prevent the optimal functioning of the immune response occurring during fever, it did not prolong the disease in another prospective placebocontrolled study among 225 children with fever of presumed viral origin (Kramer et al., 1991). Another argument against indiscriminate use of antipyretic medicine is the argument put forward by Crocetti and Serwint (2005) that fever reduction may actually obscure diagnostic signs of severe illness and delay diagnosis. For a long time a positive reaction to fever medication was considered to be a reassuring sign of benign viral illness.
21 21 However, antipyretics are just as effective in children with bacterial illness; for example the score of the Yale Observation Scale (a tool used to assess several behavioural and physical examination signs to quantify the risk of sepsis) similarly decreases in children with and without bloodstream infections. What about adverse effects of fever on children? The adverse effects of fever include discomfort, mild dehydration, confusion and uncomplicated seizures. Despite popular and professional belief, fever in itself does not put the child at risk of brain damage, coma or death. Dehydration can be easily countered by augmenting fluid intake. The most frequently uttered concern among both laymen and health care providers is the risk of febrile seizures (Karwowska et al., 2002; May and Bauchner, 1992). Nevertheless febrile seizures are rare: they occur in 3-4 % of the population and predominantly in children between 6 months and five years (Berger et al., 2008; Van Stuijvenberg et al., 1998). Despite the lack of evidence of preventive treatment with antipyretics
22 22 (see for example Strengell et al., (2009)), many physicians continue to motivate their recommendation to take antipyretics by invoking the risk of seizures (Karwowska et al., 2002; May and Bauchner, 1992). So when do we need to treat a childhood fever? Except in children with severe cardio-respiratory or neurological diseases, the administration of antipyretic agents should essentially be based on the perceived degree of discomfort in the child (Armengaud et al., 2005; Berger et al., 2008; Crocetti et al., 2001; Sarrell et al., 2002; Richardson et al., 2007) as antipyretics can improve comfort (Kramer et al., 1991), decrease fluid requirements and diminish metabolic demand (Crocetti and Serwint, 2005). Among the minority of patients requiring intensive care for severe low cardiac output or acute cerebral disease, fever below 41 C may worsen outcome and may become life-threatening as it puts their system under higher metabolic strain (Henker 2007).
23 23 How should fever be managed? Fever-lowering practices consist of either the administration of antipyretics, physical methods or a combination of both. Antipyretics work by causing downward regulation of the hypothalamic thermostat. Nowadays, paracetamol and ibuprofen are the most commonly used antipyretic drugs. If used in the correct way, both paracetamol and ibuprofen are well tolerated, safe and effectively combat fever, discomfort and pain. Most recently a global trend has been observed of treating fever with ibuprofen alone, or in an alternating scheme with paracetamol (Betz and Grunfeld, 2006; Bilenko et al., 2006; Charkaluk et al., 2005; Crocetti et al., 2001; Diez Domingo et al., 2001; Walsh, 2007b; Walsh and Edwards, 2006; Wright et al., 2007). This controversial practice will be discussed in more detail in chapter five. The consulted national guidelines on fever treatment from France, the Netherlands, or the UK all recommend monotherapy with either substance (except for the Dutch guideline that only advises to administer paracetamol) (Armengaud et al., 2005; Berger et al., 2008; Richardson et al., 2007).
24 24 Physical methods of lowering temperature, such as bathing or sponging with tepid water, cold water or alcohol seem to be counter-productive, as the physiological response to cooling is heat generation by rigors or shivering. A limited number of studies have produced conflicting results regarding the evidence of these physical fever-lowering techniques (e.g. Friedman and Barton, 1990; Sharber, 1997). Feverish children find sponging uncomfortable, and for many parents it is an inconvenient time-consuming activity. The reviewers for the Dutch and the British guideline on childhood fever conclude that there is little justification for this practice whether it is used alone or with an antipyretic (Berger et al., 2008, Richardson et al., 2007). International consensus does exist on the recommendations to increase fluid intake, ventilating the room and covering or dressing the sick child lightly so that it can easily dissipate excess heat (Armengaud et al., 2005; Bantam, 2000; Berger et al., 2008; Richardson et al., 2007).
25 25 In summary, fever as component of the acute phase response is a complexly regulated homeostatic process keeping core temperature between an interval of roughly 38 and 41 C. Fever assists the host s immune response against infection. Studies show that high fever brings about a survival benefit but only limited evidence suggests that administration of antipyretics actually prolongs disease. Bringing temperature down may make correct interpretation of illness severity more difficult. Fever may cause discomfort, mild dehydration, and harmless fever convulsions. Seizures cannot be prevented by early administration of antipyretics. Dehydration is easily prevented by augmenting fluid intake. Except in children with severe cardio-respiratory or neurological diseases, the administration of antipyretic agents should essentially be based on the perceived degree of discomfort in the child with either paracetamol or ibuprofen.
26 Fever phobia: concerns, determinants and the physician s contribution When children have a temperature, they may get irritable, listless, restless, become quiet, refuse food, want to be comforted and stay close to their parents. The protective parental role conditions the parents responsiveness to the altered behaviour of the feverish child. Parents naturally want to protect them from real (e.g. fever as a sign of sepsis) and perceived (e.g. brain damage and death) threats posed by fever. Moreover: in the pre-antibiotic area a prolonged high fever often indeed meant serious threat to survival in young children. Since Schmitt s study (1980), parents concerns about fever have remained fairly stable. The specific concerns do not vary a lot across the many geographical areas of investigation. Parents believe that fever may lead to brain damage (15 %-53 %), and to death (7-35 %). 15 %-70 % of the interviewed caregivers in different studies worry a lot about the occurrence of febrile seizures. Dehydration is
27 27 feared by 4 to 80 % of parents (Al-Eissa et al., 2000; Betz and Grunfeld 2006; Blumenthal, 1998; Karwowska et al., 2002; Crocetti et al., 2001; Kramer et al., 1995; Matziou et al. 2008; Mendez-Gonzalez, 2004; Schmitt, 1980). Other concerns less frequently stated include discomfort, delirium, blindness, organ damage, sterility and loss of consciousness or coma. Many authors have sought to establish correlations between the level of concern about fever and other socio-economic parameters with varying results. Low parental education is clearly associated with less knowledge about fever, and with more potentially harmful practices, such as misuse of antipyretics, e.g. in the USA, France, Italy and Israel (Bilenko et al., 2006; Impicciatore et al.,1998; Leiser et al., 1996; Taveras et al., 2004; Tessler et al., 2008). Ethnic minorities in several countries seem to have less knowledge about fever. In Taveras s (2004) multiethnic sample, African-American mothers were less likely to have a thermometer and to know the correct value of a fever. In
28 28 Bilenko s study (2006) carried out in Israel, administration of higher than recommended dosing of paracetamol was significantly associated with Bedouin and Moslem ethnicity. In the Netherlands, the only determinants of fear of the recurrence of a febrile seizure were a non-western origin of the mother along with low educational attainment (Van Stuijvenberg et al., 1999). On the other hand, Al-Eissa et al. (2000, n=560, in Saudi-Arabia) and Kramer (1985, n=202, in Canada) did not find any significant correlations between knowledge about fever and socio-economic parameters such as education, family size or occupation in their study about parental perceptions of fever. One remark about the putative association between ethnicity and fever phobia can be made. Bedouins are noted to be more fever-phobic and give higher doses of antipyretics (Bilenko et al., 2006; Tessler et al., 2008). At the same time Bedouins may be genetically more at risk for the hyperthermia-related rare haemorrhagic shock and encephalopathy syndrome (HSES), which to some extent justifies a heightened alertness in very young Bedouin
29 29 feverish children (Sofer et al., 1996). It is thus not unimaginable that certain populations are more at risk for (very rare) fever-related complications. This adds a genetic dimension to the cultural-ethnic determinant of fever phobia. An only child has been associated with more parental misconceptions about fever (Imipicciatore et al., 1998; Matziou et al., 2008). Anxiety about fever as a sign of a serious illness such as meningitis may be more prominent in inexperienced parents, and may be reinforced by excessive media coverage of meningitis outbreaks (Kai, 1996). Theoretically, with an increasing number of children, fever phobia is expected to be less prevalent in big families because parents have a growing experience with fever. However, both Betz and Grunberg (2006) as well as Tessler et al. (2008) found a decrease of expressed fear with a second child, but found a rising concern with subsequent children. They hypothesize that parents are learning to worry about fever from their encounters with health care workers, despite their own experience.
30 30 Several authors have pointed out the contribution of the health care sector to the parental misconceptions about fever (Karwowska et al., 2002; May and Bauchner, 1992; Mendez- Gonzalez, 2004; Sarrell et al., 2002). Indeed, physicians may impart mixed messages to parents by, on the one hand, trying to reassure parents on their concerns about fever and, on the other hand, prescribing several sorts of medication to counter it. Moreover, doctors themselves seem to share some of the erroneous beliefs of their clients. The study of May and Bauchner (1992) established that 65 % of the North- American physicians agreed that fever in itself can become dangerous to a child, invoking cerebral damage, fever convulsions and death. Over 9 % of interviewed physicians in the USA and in Israel recommend treating fever below 38.3 C despite the absence of discomfort in the child (May and Bauchner, 1992; Sarrell et al., 2002). Fever phobia thus seems to be prevalent in many developed countries among parents of all social strata and among many
31 31 health care providers, and is probably influenced by a host of different variables, among which parental education and ethnicity are the most consistent determinants. Conflicting professional advice on treatment for benign infections reinforces the caregivers perception of the dangers of fever as a symptom. Furthermore, as many parents do not know about the homeostatic properties of fever, the lay point of view that high fever needs treatment seems to be perfectly congruent with the belief that temperature can rise infinitely. By controlling the symptom, parents recover their sense of mastery. Behaviour such as monitoring temperatures, bathing and sponging the child, and administering medication can all be seen as rituals that give parents a sense of personal control over a disempowering situation (Kai, 1996; Lagerlov et al., 2003; Walsh et al., 2007a). Having said this, it needs to be stressed that fever phobia certainly has some evolutionary benefit: as caregivers pay close attention to the feverish child, they might pick up signs of serious illness earlier than those who do not have an increased vigilance (Purssell, 2009).
32 Research question formulation In this study, the following research questions are being posed: 1. What temperature do parents in Germany, Luxembourg and in the Netherlands consider to be a fever in children? 2. Which beliefs do they have about fever as a symptom? 2a: Do parents believe that fever has any beneficial effects? Which ones? 2b: Which misconceptions do parents have about fever? Do they believe fever can rise above 41.5 C? Do they believe that fever causes brain damage, dehydration or death? Do they confound the symptom of fever with the actual illness?
33 33 2c: How many parents adhere to the guideline of treating fever first and foremost for the child s comfort? 2d: How many parents give treatment out of fear for febrile fits, uncontrolled rising, dehydration, death or brain damage? 3. How do they manage fever: 3a: How and how often do they measure fever? 3b: Above which temperature do they start treating a fever with antipyretics? 3c: What antipyretic medication do they use? Is there a preference for either ibuprofen or paracetamol? 3d: What unit doses and daily doses do parents administer? Do they overdose antipyretics?
34 34 3e: How many parents use an alternating scheme of paracetamol and an antiinflammatory drug? 3f: How many parents adhere to the recommendations of undressing the child, augmenting their fluid intake, and ventilating the room? 3g: How many parents use other treatment options like tepid bathing or applying wet compresses? The results will be compared to data from the international literature and hypotheses will be formulated to account for possible differences between the three study countries.
35 35 2. Digression: Kurorten, uitzieken and a pill for every ill : building a socio-cultural framework 2.1 An introduction to the medical culture in Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands In 1988 the medical journalist Lynn Payer published her influential work Medicine and Culture in which she challenged the popular belief that medicine is grounded in objective science. Medicine and Culture compares and contrasts the practice of medicine in the U.S.A., Britain, Germany and France. It shows how doctors in the four countries define, diagnose and treat disease very differently, which illustrates how little medical care is really evidencebased. She shows how much medical care depends upon fundamental assumptions about the body and disease which are not based on clinical research, but on beliefs, norms and cultural values.
36 36 Yet, to describe the culture of health, illness behaviour and health care in the three study countries means we accept the pitfall of generalization. These three wealthy, geographically close Northern European countries share a Northern European history, have similar languages, and deal with growing numbers of (non-)western immigrants, and thus, share an increasing heterogeneity. Nonetheless there are differences: A Dutch patient in Germany will be overwhelmed by the number of tests ordered for, what he thought, a minor ailment. He will be positively surprised about the short waiting lists for specialised tests and referrals. For example, a Dutch immigrant in Germany states on a weblog: It strikes me that Germans are more quickly ill than the Dutch: in the Netherlands you have a flu, here (in Germany) you suffer from bronchitis. And if you have simple lower back ache in the Netherlands, you have a herniated disk in Germany. You immediately get an MRI and the physiotherapist is at your
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All men should know they are having a PSA test and be informed of the implications prior to testing. This booklet was created to help primary care providers offer men information about the risks and benefits
Summary Health Council of the Netherlands. Vaccination of young children against tuberculosis. The Hague: Health Council of the Netherlands, 2011; publication no. 2011/04 Even though the global prevalence
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