2020 Volume 60 Issue 3 Pages 217-226
Fever is a common symptom in children and is caused by various physical disorders, psychosocial stress is also induced the fever. In general, a diagnosis of “psychogenic fever” is made when there are no accompanying symptoms or inflammatory findings other than fever, and fever is observed in a specific situation or trigger, or when the effects of chronic psychosocial stress are estimated. Psychogenic fever is a stress-related, psychosomatic disease especially seen in teenagers and young adults.
In children, if the patient is unaware of the psychosocial stressors or is unable to verbalize well, the psychological factor may not become clear and diagnosis may be difficult. Also, if parent and child are worried about a physical illness or they cannot accept the diagnosis, they may fall into doctor shopping. As for the treatment, lifestyle guidance, psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy are provided but environmental adjustment is most important for children. In group life such as school, there is a problem peculiar to childhood, such as a measure of correspondence at the time of fever. In addition, consideration for comorbidities is necessary, and attention is paid to neurodevelopmental disorders, especially autism spectrum disorder. In this paper, we will describe the precautions treatment and dealing with psychogenic fever in children.
Treatment includes lifestyle guidance, psychotherapy, and pharmacotherapy, but environmental adjustment is important for children. In group life such as school, it is necessary to know how to cope with fever. This is an issue specific to childhood. In addition, consideration for comorbidities is necessary, and attention is paid to neurodevelopmental disorder, especially autism spectrum disorder. In this article, we will describe the points of care for and treatment of psychogenic fever in children.
