Appraisal of childhood fever by German and Turkish mothers in Germany--results of a pilot study

The cultural background of patients and parents is increasingly recognized as a relevant influence on health behavior. This study was conducted to test the validity and reliability of a questionnaire to investigate fever concepts among German and Turkish mothers living in Germany and to devel...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thorsten Langer, Miriam Pfeifer, Aynur Sönmez, Bilge Tarhan, Thomas Ostermann
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2010-10-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/5041
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The cultural background of patients and parents is increasingly recognized as a relevant influence on health behavior. This study was conducted to test the validity and reliability of a questionnaire to investigate fever concepts among German and Turkish mothers living in Germany and to develop hypotheses on important correlations between cultural background and specific perceptions, explanations, fears, and measures taken when confronted with fever. We conducted 50 face-to-face interviews with Turkish and German mothers and 40 re-interviews by telephone. Validity of items was tested by discussion of videotaped interviews, cognitive interviewing and problem coding. To determine the reliability of items, Cohen's kappa was calculated. We found good results for validity and moderate to excellent results for reliability. The results of this pilot study indicate a relevant influence of the cultural background on the perception, explanation and treatment of childhood fever by mothers. However, a larger sample is required to adjust for educational and socioeconomic status.
ISSN:0041-4301
2791-6421