A Cross-Sectional Survey of Family Care Behaviors for Children with Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in China: Are There Opportunities for Improvement?

Abstract

Objective: To describe family care behaviors for children with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and explore related factors.

Design and methods: Parents of children with URTIs were included in this cross-sectional study. Family care behaviors, disease-related knowledge, and parental self-efficacy were evaluated with validated measures.

Results: Among the 419 participants, 73.80% recognized diseases based on their children's abnormal presentation. Self-medication was the main home care measure (36.28% used only self-medication; 27.92% used both self-medication and physical cooling methods), and 36.5% received suggestions from medical professionals. All the participants took their children to the hospital, and 28.20% did so two or three times. The proportions of visits to level II or III hospitals were 49.64% and 83.87% for first and third hospital visits, respectively. Parents who had less disease knowledge and assessed children' diseases as more serious took their children to the hospital more often (p < 0.05); those whose nearest medical institution was a community health center were more likely to visit such centers (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Most of the parents recognized symptoms of URTIs and provided home care but lacked enough knowledge and professional support to take reasonable measures. Hospital visits were their primary choice.

Practical implications: Family care behaviors for children with URTIs could be improved through health education, and an internet nursing service or family doctor system is suggested. A hierarchical medical system is necessary to reduce hospital visits, as are more community health centers with pediatric services.

Keywords: Children; Family care behaviors; Upper respiratory tract infections.