Mothers’ home management practices during febrile seizures in children under six years of age in Jordan

Background: Febrile seizure is the most prevalent seizure disorder among young children, and it commonly occurs in the home setting, where mothers are often the first responders. First-aid management of febrile seizures is also important to avoid complications and help parents feel less anxious. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of evidence describing the home-management practices of mothers in Jordan. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the home-management practices of mothers of children under six years of age with febrile seizures in Jordan and to determine factors associated with appropriate and inappropriate practices. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. Data were collected between August and December 2021 from mothers attending pediatric outpatient clinics and pediatric wards in two public hospitals in northern Jordan. A structured questionnaire developed by Elbilgahy and Abd El Aziz (2018) was used to assess mothers’ home-management practices. Predictors of mothers’ home-management practices were analyzed using SPSS version 26, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and backward multiple regression analysis. Results: In total, 68.4% of the mothers exhibited proper home-management behaviors in the course of febrile seizure. The majority of mothers reported that they put the child in a safe position (86.9%), noticed the manifestations and duration of seizures (84.5%), and tried to decrease body temperature (85.7%). Nevertheless, a considerable percentage of them were panic (61.9%) and doing the wrong things like cardiac massage (23.8%). Regression analysis showed that higher maternal knowledge and more positive attitudes were significantly associated with better home-management practice scores, which explained 27% of the variance of home-management practices among mothers. Conclusion: Despite the fact that over two-thirds of mothers showed proper actions, there were still gaps in some essential first-aid actions in case of febrile seizures. There were a number of factors that were linked to home-management practices by mothers, which underscored the need to enhance the education of caregivers about the first-aid management of febrile seizures. Specific educational programs by healthcare providers are required to enhance the response of caregivers and encourage safe home management of febrile seizures among children.