What makes parents afraid during the night?
Journal Title: Αρχεία Ελληνικής Ιατρικής - Year 2015, Vol 32, Issue 2
Abstract
OBJECTIVE When a child gets sick, it is logical that parents become stressed and consult a pediatrician. It is possible that the fear and stress of the parents gets worst during the night-time. This study recorded the visits of children to the pediatric emergency department and investigated the activity during the hours of the night. METHOD A retrospective study was conducted of the utilization of a hospital pediatric emergency department during the period September 2010–September 2011. RESULTS During the 12-month period, 11,213 children (53.2% boys, 46.8% girls) attended the pediatric emergency department, of which 10,277 (91.7%) were brought between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight, and the rest between 0:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. (i.e. during the night). The most frequent reason, overall, for pediatric consultation was fever (1 in 3 children), followed by cough (22.2%) and abdominal symptoms (vomiting 10.1%, abdominal pain 8.5%). During the night, 18.1% presented with vomiting, 12.2% with abdominal pain, 7% with respiratory distress, 8% with earache and 1.5% with convulsions, all percentages being statistically significantly higher than during the day. The most frequent diagnosis during the night was gastroenteritis (18.7%), followed by otitis media (12.5%) and laryngitis (11.5%), percentages statistically significantly higher than during the day (p<0.001). During the night, 159 children were hospitalized (7%) and during the day 8.8% (p<0.001). Vomiting was the most frequent reason for hospitalization during the night (34%), followed by fever (32.1%), diarrhea (12.6%) and cough (11.9%). CONCLUSIONS Fever is the symptom that most often worries parents. During the night-time hours, however, they seek pediatric help for vomiting and respiratory symptoms more frequently than during the day.
Authors and Affiliations
M. BINOU, O. GIATA, E. THEOCHARIS, I. SOULTANIDIS, C. KATSIAOUNIS, K. AKTSELI
Keywords
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