title: A comparison of methods to interpret the basal body temperature graph.
abstract: Specific criteria are given for several methods of determining the basal body temperature shift. The specific criteria selected have been coded for a uniform interpretation by computer, and interpretations have been compared for 8496 charts. Our results indicate that the method that defines the temperature shift as 0.3 degrees F or more above the running low average for at least 3 consecutive days provides the best concurrent chart interpretation method. A method that creates a smoothed curve that transects the average of all temperatures on a completed graph provides a good retrospective method for identifying the temperature shift. Both the temperature averaging technique and curve smoothing technique identified a temperature shift in more than 95% of the charts with complete temperature readings.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation; D008875:Middle Aged; D010061:Ovulation Detection / Q000379:methods*