were mothers (82.8%). The mean age of participants vi/.38
33.15 (SD : 5.03) years. Over 60% of participant families
were nuclear. Other demographic characteristics and family
details are shown in Table 1. Clinic and kindergartfin Parents
did not differ in gender, age, family composition, number of
children, or monthly family income.
Participants’ Definition of Fever
Participants were asked to define the temperature associated
with normal body temperature, fever, and high fever. For
67.3%, a normal body temperature was 537 °C. With re-
gard to fever, 43.1% believed a temperature of 37.0-37.4 OC
was indicative of fever, whereas 37.9% believed that a tem-
perature of 37.5~37.9 °C was indicative of fever. With
regard to high fever, 31.1% believed a temperature of
38.0—38.4 °C was indicative of high fever, Whereas 38.5%
believed a temperature of 38.5-38.9 °C was indicative of
high fever. Many participants attributed fever to bacterial
infection (74%) or recognized fever to be a symptom of a
primary disease (63%). Nearly one third (32.4%) believed
that childhood fever is caused by exposure to wind and cold
(Feng—I-Ian), whereas another 15.6% attributed fever to an
imbalance of heat and cold within the body (Leng-Re-Shi-
Heng), with heat being a manifestation of overstimulation of
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