Temperature Assessment by Parental Palpation

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

“…This study has demonstrated a high sensitivity (96.3%) of mothers' tactile determination of fever in their children by palpation of the child's forehead. This finding is similar to those reported by Nwanyanwu et al (sensitivity of 97.3%); [6] Ernst and Philips, 90.0%; [7] Graneto and Soglin, 84%; [8] while Alves and Correia, [9] as well as Banco and Veltri, [10] reported a slightly lower sensitivity of 75.9% and 73.9%, respectively. However, the specificity of 43.2% obtained in the present study was lower than the specificities reported by these other workers, ranging from 73.3% to 90.6%, but was higher than the 19.2% reported by Nwanyanwu et al [6] from Malawi.…”

Accuracy of perception and touch for detecting fever in adults: a hospital‐based study from a rural, tertiary hospital in Central India

“…In one study, most doctors felt that patients and doctors are good at subjectively assessing the presence of fever in children and adults (Clark 1992). This is contrary to the findings of most studies on the accuracy of maternal perception and touch in detecting fever in children (Bergeson & Steinfelt 1974; Banco & Veltri 1984; Ernst & Philip 1985; Singhi & Sood 1990; Hooker et al . 1996; Einterz & Bates 1997; Nwanyanwu et al .1997; Whybrew et al .…”

Evaluation of the Physician's Ability to Recognize the Presence or Absence of Anemia, Fever, and Jaundice

“…In these previous studies, parents demonstrated sensitivities of 74-90% and specificities of 73-98%. [32][33][34][35][36] In our study, sensitivities and specificities for fever detection were slightly lower. However, this difference from previous studies may be explained by the greater interaction between parent and child when compared with our study observers and subjects.…”