title: The knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of carers (parents, guardians, healthcare practitioners, crèche workers) around fever and febrile illness in children aged 5 years and under: protocol for a qualitative systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many parents consider fever a disease in itself and feel disempowered when their child is ill. Numerous guidelines have been produced; however, their target audience remains healthcare professionals and not carers of children in general. A reliable source of information will decrease worry in parents and carers when managing a febrile child.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic search will be conducted in nine electronic databases. Articles published in English, or with an abstract published in English, will be eligible for inclusion in the review. Unpublished literature, grey literature and consultation with experts in the area will be used to supplement database searching. Titles and abstracts of studies will be screened for inclusion in the study by two independent reviewers against pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A data extraction form will be designed and data will be extracted to provide detail of the included studies by a further two reviewers. Quality assessment of studies will be conducted by two additional independent reviewers and results will be used to moderate included studies. All disagreements will be resolved through discussion until consensus is reached. Thematic synthesis will be used to analyse results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Correct management of fever in children is not well understood in the general population. Although carers can identify fever and febrile illness in children, determination of the severity of fever proves challenging. Research is needed to cohere existing evidence and identify knowledge gaps. It is envisaged that results of this review will contribute to the development of trustworthy, accessible guidelines for parents and carers of children with fever or febrile illness.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  PROSPERO CRD42014009812.
authors: Pharmaceutical Care Research Group, School of Pharmacy, University College Cork (UCC), Cork, Ireland. maria_kelly@umail.ucc.ie.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Kelly
authors: Pharmaceutical Care Research Group, School of Pharmacy, University College Cork (UCC), Cork, Ireland. l.sahm@ucc.ie.|Department of Pharmacy, Mercy University Hospital, Cork, Ireland. l.sahm@ucc.ie.
authors: Laura J
authors: LJ
authors: Sahm
authors: HRB Clinical Research Facility & Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. f.shiely@ucc.ie.
authors: Frances
authors: F
authors: Shiely
authors: School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. ronanosullivan@ucc.ie.|National Children's Research Centre, Dublin 12, Ireland. ronanosullivan@ucc.ie.
authors: Ronan
authors: R
authors: O'Sullivan
authors: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. maria.brenner@ucd.ie.
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Brenner
authors: School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. philip.larkin@ucd.ie.
authors: Philip
authors: P
authors: Larkin
authors: Pharmaceutical Care Research Group, School of Pharmacy, University College Cork (UCC), Cork, Ireland. S.McCarthy@ucc.ie.|Department of Pharmacy, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland. S.McCarthy@ucc.ie.
authors: Suzanne
authors: S
authors: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002983:Clinical Competence; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005334:Fever / Q000628:therapy*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010290:Parents; D012107:Research Design; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic