AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 82(2), 2010, pp. 215-218
doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-0419;
Copyright © 2010 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Oyakhirome, S.
Right arrow Articles by Kremsner, P. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Oyakhirome, S.
Right arrow Articles by Kremsner, P. G.
Related Collections
Right arrow Malaria

BRIEF-REPORT


Assessment of Fever in African Children: Implication for Malaria Trials

Sunny Oyakhirome*, Katharina Profanter, AND Peter G. Kremsner
Medical Research Unit, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon; Institute for Tropical Medicine, Department of Parasitology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

 

ABSTRACT

We evaluated methods for assessing body temperature by comparing subjective assessment of fever by parents and doctors with objective axillary, tympanic, and rectal measurements of body temperature in 1000 children ≤ 10-years-old who presented at outpatient clinics with recent history of fever. Sensitivity of subjective assessment of fever were higher at thresholds of ≥ 38.3°C with specificity as low as 60%. Axillary methods showed better specificity at fever thresholds of > 38.0°C with maximum sensitivity of 63% at thresholds of ≥ 37.5°C. Bland-Altman analysis showed wide limits of agreement between objective methods of measurements: –1°C to 3°C for comparison of rectal and axillary, –1°C to 2°C for rectal and tympanic, and –1°C to 2°C for tympanic and axillary measurements. A choice of method to measure body temperature for diagnosis of fever in African children should be informed by a trade off between its specificity and sensitivity that considers thresholds > 38.0°C.

Received July 24, 2009. Accepted for publication October 17, 2009.

Authors' addresses: Sunny Oyakhirome and Katharina Profanter, Medical Research Unit, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Lambaréné, Gabon, E-mails: drsunnysmcn{at}hotmail.com and katharinaprofanter{at}yahoo.de. Peter G. Kremsner, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tubingen, Tubingen, Germany, E-mail: peter.kremsner{at}uni-tuebingen.de.

*Address correspondence to Sunny Oyakhirome, Medical Research Unit, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, B.P. 118, Lambaréné, Gabon. E-mail: drsunnysmcn{at}hotmail.com






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2010 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.