Ability of mothers to assess the presence of fever in their children without using a thermometer

Abstract

Fever is a common complaint in paediatrics and the ability of mothers to identify high temperatures in their children when there is no thermometer available needs to be assessed. Atotal of 169 mothers from a low social and economic background were studied to assess the accuracy of fever diagnosis in their children by palpation. In 137 children with axillary temperatures > or = 38 C as measured by a mercury glass thermometer, mothers were able to detect fever by palpation in 104 cases (sensitivity of 75.9%). In another 32 children without fever, 29 were correctly identified (specificity of 90.6%). Only 21% of mothers in the study had a thermometer in their home and only 44% of these knew how to use it properly. Results show that mothers use palpation to assess the presence of fever in their children and are able to do it correctly in most cases.