Ability of mothers to assess the presence of fever in their children: implication for the treatment of fever under the IMCI guidelines

A Cross-Sectional Study on Subjective Fever Assessment in Children by Palpation: Are Fathers as Reliable as Mothers?

Background

Fever is common in pediatric patients. Often, parents rely solely on palpation when assessing their child's fever. The objective of the current study was to determine the accuracy of parents in detecting their child's fever by palpation.

Methods

A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary pediatric hospital. Infants and children, 0-4 years of age, presenting to the ED with both parents were included. Parents were separately asked if their child had a fever and, if so, were asked to assess the temperature by palpation. A nurse obtained the rectal temperature. The primary outcome measure was the accuracy of fathers and mothers in detecting fever.

Results

A total of 170 children with their parents were enrolled. The mean ages of the children, mothers, and fathers were 18.9 (SD 0.8) months, 31.1 (SD 6.4) years, and 33.7 (SD 6.9) years, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between mothers and fathers in the ability to assess fever by palpation (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.39,-1.08). Sensitivities for detecting fever by palpation for mothers and father were 86.4% and 88.2%, respectively (specificity among mothers: 54.2% and specificity among fathers: 43.1%). The overall negative and positive predictive values were 65.9% (95% CI 55%-75.7%) and 75.7% (95% CI 69.9%-80.8%), respectively.

Conclusions

Mothers and fathers do not differ in their ability to accurately assess their child's fever by palpation. The low positive and negative predictive values indicate that if temperature was not measured, physicians cannot rely on parents' reports.

Validity and accuracy of maternal tactile assessment for fever in under-five children in north central Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

This study seeks to determine not only the reliability of parental touch in detecting fever as compared to rectal thermometry in under-five children, but also the sociodemographic factors that may predict its reliability.

SETTING

The study was carried out in the Emergency Paediatric Unit of a tertiary hospital in North Central Nigeria.

PARTICIPANTS

409 children aged less than 5 years with a history of fever in the 48 h prior to presentation and their mothers were recruited consecutively. All the children recruited completed the study. Children with clinical parameters suggestive of shock, and those who were too ill, were excluded from the study.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcome was the proportion of mothers who could accurately predict if their child was febrile or not (defined by rectal temperature) using tactile assessment only. Secondary outcomes were the validity and accuracy of touch in detecting fever and factors related to its accuracy.

RESULTS

About 85% of the children were febrile using rectal thermometry. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive and negative predictive values for touch as a screening tool were 63%, 54%, 88.3% and 21%, respectively. High maternal socioeconomic status and low maternal age influenced positively the accuracy of touch in correctly determining the presence or absence of fever.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has shown that tactile assessment of temperature is not reliable and that absence of fever in a previously febrile child should be confirmed by objective methods of temperature measurement.

Detection of fever in children emergency care: comparisons of tactile and rectal temperatures in Nigerian children

Background

Clinical thermometry is the objective method for temperature measurements but tactile assessment of fever at home is usually the basis for seeking medical attention especially where the cost and level of literacy preclude the use of thermometers. This study was carried out to determine the reliability of tactile perception of fever by caregivers, nurses and house physicians in comparison to rectal thermometry and also the use of commonly practiced surface of the hand in the care of ill children. All caregivers of children aged 6 to 59 months who presented to the emergency department were approached consecutively at the triage stage but 182 children participated. Each child had tactile assessment of fever using palmar and dorsal surfaces of the hand by the caregivers, House Physicians and Nursing Officers. Rectal temperature was also measured and read independently by nurses and house physicians. Comparisons were made between tactile assessments and thermometer readings using a cut-off for fever, 38.0°C and above.

Findings

The caregivers' perception of fever had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 95%, 23%, 66% and 73%, respectively compared with 93%, 26%, 67% and 69%, respectively for nursing officers. Irrespective of the groups studied, 77.1% of 336 assessors opined that the dorsal surface of the hand was more sensitive in tactile assessment of temperature and the frequently used site for assessment of fever were the head (35.6%) and neck (33.3%). Tactile assessment of temperature over-detected fever in ≥ 24% of cases among the three groups of assessors.

Conclusions

The present study suggests that tactile assessment of temperature may over estimate the prevalence of fever, it does not detect some cases and the need for objective measurement of temperature is emphasised in paediatric emergency care.