Akintola University of Technology, **LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
(Accepted 16 December 2008)
To assess the accuracy of tactile examination by mothers as a method of fever determination in their
children and thus determine the reliability of mothers' history about the presence or absence of fever in their
children.
A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in four health centers randomly selected in
Osogbo metropolis. Three hundred mothers were studied, a semi-structured questionnaire was utilized.
The study found the sensitivity and specificity of tactile examination for mothers as a means of
detecting fever in their children to be 82.3% and 54.1% respectively. Mother's socio-demographic
characteristics and the age of child did not affect mother's subjective assessment of childhood fever (p>0.05).
Mothers are able to provide accurate information about the presence or absence of fever in their
children by palpation without the use of a thermometer. Tactile examination was found to be adequate for
mothers as a means of detecting fever in their children. Physicians should accept as reliable mothers' history of
fever and give prompt management.