title: Accuracy of subjective assessment of fever by Nigerian mothers in under-5 children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many mothers still rely on palpation to determine if their children have fever at home before deciding to seek medical attention or administer self-medications. This study was carried out to determine the accuracy of subjective assessment of fever by Nigerian mothers in Under-5 Children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Each eligible child had a tactile assessment of fever by the mother after which the axillary temperature was measured. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 19 (IBM Inc. Chicago Illinois, USA, 2010).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 113 mother/child pairs participated in the study. Palpation overestimates fever by 24.6%. Irrespective of the surface of the hand used for palpation, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of tactile assessment were 82.4%, 37.1%, 51.9% and 71.9%, respectively. The use of the palmer surface of the hand had a better sensitivity (95.2%) than the dorsum of the hand (69.2%). The use of multiple sites had better sensitivity (86.7%) than the use of single site (76.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tactile assessment of childhood fevers by mothers is still a relevant screening tool for the presence or absence fever. Palpation with the palmer surface of the hand using multiple sites improves the reliability of tactile assessment of fever.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Madonna University Teaching Hospital, Elele, Rivers State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Kelechi Kenneth
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Odinaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Benedict O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Edelu
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Federal Medical Centre Owerri, Imo, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Emeka Charles
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Nwolisa
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Federal Medical Centre Owerri, Imo, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Ifeyinwa B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Amamilo
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Seline N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Okolo
keywords: Assessment; fever; negative predictive value; positive predictive value; sensitivity; specificity
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