Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 26, 2020; 8(16): 3465-3473
Published online Aug 26, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i16.3465
Home quarantine compliance is low in children with fever during COVID-19 epidemic
Qing Lou, De-Quan Su, Sun-Qin Wang, E Gao, Lian-Qiao Li, Zhi-Qiang Zhuo
Qing Lou, Sun-Qin Wang, E Gao, Lian-Qiao Li, Department of Emergency Medicine, Xiamen Children’s Hospital, Xiamen 361006, Fujian Province, China
De-Quan Su, Zhi-Qiang Zhuo, Department of Infections, Xiamen Children’s Hospital, Xiamen 361006, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Lou Q and Zhuo ZQ were responsible for study conception and design and drafted the initial manuscript; Su DQ and Wang SQ reviewed and revised the manuscript; Gao E and Li LQ participated in study conception and design, supervised data collection and analyses, and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript; the authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Supported by Xiamen Children’ s Hospital Backbone Talent Training Program Project, No. CHP-2019-BT-003.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by Ethics Review of Scientific Research Ethics Branch of Ethics Committee of Xiamen Children's Hospital.
Informed consent statement: Verbal and written consent was obtained from all parents.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this manuscript.
Data sharing statement: There are no additional data available for this study.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhi-Qiang Zhuo, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Infections, Xiamen Children’s Hospital, No. 92 Yibin Road, Huli District, Xiamen 361006, Fujian Province, China. q661113@sina.cn
Received: April 18, 2020
Peer-review started: April 18, 2020
First decision: June 24, 2020
Revised: June 24, 2020
Accepted: August 1, 2020
Article in press: August 1, 2020
Published online: August 26, 2020
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The new coronavirus pneumonia outbreak that began in December 2019 had a severe impact in China. In order to control the spread of the epidemic, China has put forward measures for the isolation of patients with fever at home. As a patient group, children are characterized by still developing consciousness, behavioral, language, cognition, and self-control capabilities. In this study, we aimed to assess the implementation of children’s home isolation prevention and control measures and the factors that may affect compliance.

Research motivation

Due to the nature of children, the implementation of the home isolation turned out to be quite difficult, and questions regarding the home isolation were brought out by parents when seeing doctors.

Research objectives

The main purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of child home isolation measures and the factors that affect compliance. The results of our research will aid the development of intervention programs that improve children’s compliance.

Research methods

The parents of 495 pediatric patients participated in our survey. We collected data on the implementation of child home isolation measures, including gender of patient, age of patient, number of family members, gender of caregiver, age of caregiver, and compliance with isolation. For the latter we collected data on adherence to 1.5 meters distance, hand hygiene, cough etiquette, and wearing masks at home.

Research results

The level of compliance among 495 children was low. In univariate analysis, the compliance with home isolation was related to gender and age of the child, gender and age of the main caregiver, number of children in the family, and intensive health education. The number of children in the family was not an independent factor that affects compliance.

Research conclusions

Children’s adherence to home isolation is generally low, and health education is imperative for improving compliance. Senior caregivers as well as young children should be the key target groups of health education.

Research perspectives

Home isolation is an important measure for prevention and control of the new coronavirus epidemic. However, proper implementation of home isolation among children with fever is relatively poor. In order to improve children’s compliance, social structures need to be mobilized. Better health education and enhanced supervision need to be provided in order to protect children's physical and mental health.