Can Mother’s Touch Really Assess Fever in Children - A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in Paediatric Department, MGM Hospital, Warangal

BACKGROUND Fever is one of the most common complaints encountered by paediatric practitioners in the clinics and hospitals. Fever as a complaint alone, accounts for 25% of the complaints among others like cold, cough, vomiting etc. Most often it is the first noticed sign by the parents especially, mothers. Very often parents don’t consider fever as a sign of illness, but fever itself is considered as an illness. Most of the mothers presume fever by tactile perception and seek medical consultation. Fever is a complex physiologic response to disease mediated pyrogenic cytokines and characterized by a rise in core temperature. In this study, we want to determine if assessment of fever by touch of the mother correlates with measured temperature simultaneously. METHODS This study was done in department of Paediatrics, MGM Hospital, Warangal in the age group 6months and 12 years between October 2019 to April 2020. Axillary temperature was measured simultaneously in all those children where mother perceived fever by touch, admitted to the paediatric department MGMH hospital. Temperature more than 99.4 F measured in the axillary area was considered as fever. RESULTS Of the 199 mothers 74 i.e., (37.19 %) perceived fever correctly and 125 i.e., (62.81 %) perceived fever which was not recorded on measurement. when educational status of the mother was considered ,graduate mothers could perceive fever better when compared to illiterate mothers. CONCLUSIONS In the present study we found that fever perception by tactile sensation is inferior to measured temperature. Parents often wrongly perceive normal temperature as fever and rush to seek professional care. Even educated mothers were unable to assess fever correctly by touch. The results of this study may thus be potentially useful in reassuring parents with fever phobia. All mothers should be motivated and encouraged for use of standardized thermometer to measure fever even at home , thus reducing the burden of false fever in our OPD`S and hospitals. KEYWORDS Mothers, Perceived Fever, Measured Temperature