Abstract

BOZA, Gabriela; YOCK, Adriana  and  E SOTO, Manuel. Principales motivos de consulta en niños de 0 a 6 años del área de Rincón de Salas y Puente de Piedra de Grecia en el año del 2003. Acta pediátr. costarric [online]. 2004, vol.18, n.1, pp.28-32. ISSN 1409-0090.

Objective Between January and December 1993, at the EBAIS ( Basic Team in Primary Care) of Puente de Piedra and Rincón de Salas at Grecia, upper respiratory tract viral infection was the most common cause of visits to the doctor. This infections are basiclly caused by virus and children may recuperate without needing health services. Parents have misconceptions about the causes, risk factors and treatments of colds, increasing the number of unnecessary visits to health services. The objective of this study is to determine the most important reasons of visits to the EBAIS in children of 0-6 years old and know parents conceptions about colds. Methods In this descriptive study the concepts that parents have about colds are evaluated. Also, factors that could increase the incidence of this infections are analized and the main cause of visits to the health service. The EBAIS of Puente de Piedra and Rincón de Salas covers approximately 391 children between 0 - 6 years old. We took an alleatory group of 40% approximately of this group meaning 170 kids. Their families answered a survey which results were lately analized with the informatic program epi-info6. Results From the 170 patients in the study, 93 were boys and 77 were girls. Their ages were around one month and six years. Most of the kids were costaricans and only 8.2% were from Nicaragua. The total number of visits to the EBAIS were 461. Colds were the main reason with 186 visits, then streptococcal faringitis is in second place with 88 visits and asma with 61 is in third place. Parents confirmed that the main causes of colds are: climate (109), virus (91) and bacterias (25). 78% considered always or sometimes necessary the use of antibiotics for the treatment of colds. Also, 50% confirmed colds should be treated with antibiotics. Conclusions We concluded that the most important reasons of visit were colds, faringitis, and asthma. The study also revealed that parents knows about the causes of colds but they have misconceptions about its treatment. This make us think about the necessary education of the population about clinical differences between an infection caused by bacteria or by virus which may let parents decide when to take their kids to the doctor or not. There will also be more comprehension by the patients when antibiotics are not prescribed for a viral infection.