Parents’ experiences in managing upper tract respiratory infections in infants under 3 years old

Gemma Martin-Ayala, José Arnau-Sánchez, Jose-Miguel Bueno-Ortiz, Casimiro Jiménez-Guillen, Juan-José Vigueras Abellán

Keywords: grounded theory; upper tract respiratory infections, infants under 3 years old, Parents’ experiences

Introduction:

Many parents find overwhelming the task of managing common illnesses related with upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Consequently, it is one of the main reasons for paediatric consultation in health services. Parents also seek reassurance from family, friends and other healthcare practitioners

Method:

Our goal was to describe parents’ experiences about the management of URTI in under 3 years old. Qualitative research was framed in Grounded Theory. Five Focal discussion groups were performed. They were composed of parents of infants under 3 years old who had been attended in paediatric consultations in Primary Care. MAXQDA 10 was used for data analysis.

Results:

The core category was composed of 4 subcategories: a) The value of parents’ experience in the management of childhood diseases; b) The influence of popular knowledge; c) The information provided by health workers; d) The clinical relationship between the primary care paediatrician and the parents.

According to parents’ experience, the management of URTI was determined by the previous knowledge they had in tackling this kind of infections. The advice of friends and family was an important support for the management. In addition, providing detailed information by the primary care paediatrician about both managing illnesses and red flags, as well as quick consultation in case of severe symptoms, was crucial to reassure parents.

Conclusions:

Both parents’ previous knowledge about URTI management and PC Paediatricians’ attitudes derived from the clinical relationship were instrumental to parents when tackling URTI in their children.

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