Abstract

Objective: To develop a tool for assessing knowledge on fever and to describe the knowledge and its associated factors of the parents of the children treated as dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever (DF/DHF) at a tertiary care setting in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was done in Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children from July 2012 to January 2013. The calculated sample size was 425. Systematic sampling was done. Knowledge on fever was assessed using a tool judgmentally validated with expert guidance which consisted of equally-weighed 10 questions. The construct validity of the tool was assessed using two a priori hypothesis. Bivariate analysis was followed by multivariate analysis for the associations of knowledge. Analysis was stratified for DF and DHF groups. Results: The response rate of the study was 99.5% (n = 423). The developed tool to assess the knowledge on fever fulfilled the assumptions of two a priori hypotheses. The median knowledge scores of total sample, DF and DHF groups were respectively 40 (30.0–60.0), 40.0 (30.0–60.0) and 50.0 (30.0–60.0). Child’s age, income, main caregiver’s and spouse’s highest education level and the presence of a thermometer at home were significantly associated with the knowledge on fever in bivariate analysis (P < 0.05). Main caregiver’s education level and having a thermometer at home had a significant association with the knowledge (P < 0.001) following multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The developed tool is with apparent construct validity. Main caregiver’s education level and presence of a thermometer are associated with a higher knowledge on fever irrespective of the dengue category.

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