Is fever phobia driving inappropriate use of antipyretics?

Fever is a common medical complaint in children; 20–40% of parents report feverish illness each year.1 In 1980, Schmitt used the term ‘fever phobia’ to describe parents’ misconceptions and anxiety about fever.2 We conducted a single-centre cross-sectional study at the Children's Assessment Unit (CAU) of the Children's Hospital for Wales, Cardiff. Over 3 weeks, a self-administered anonymous 23-item written semistructured questionnaire regarding beliefs, concerns and management of fever was distributed to a convenience sample of 78 parents/caregivers of children aged 0–10 years, attending with acute medical problems. This questionnaire had been validated in emergency department setting.3 We found that parents held strong beliefs about fever and had low thresholds for seeking medical advice or treating fever (figure 1). The risk of …