2023-10-15 02:34:17
Standard temperature ranges should be established and modified depending on these factors in adult outpatients.
Normal oral temperature varies depending on sex, age, height, weight and the time of day in which the measurement is taken, according to a study that was just published in JAMA and that aimed to measure the usual ranges of temperature in outpatients.
One of the points of interest of the study is related to the fact that the usual or normal temperature range is not well defined, according to Jesús Ortega Martínez, coordinator of the Infectious Diseases working group of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine. (Semfyc). Thus, the definition of what is normal temperature, fever and low-grade fever is somewhat ambiguous “given that the variables we use for measurement are mediated by many variables,” says this specialist. However, it is an aspect that is commonly evaluated in medical examinations.
In the study now published and carried out by researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine, 36.6 degrees Celsius has been obtained as a normal temperature, using individual and temporal characteristics, with a range that oscillates between 36.2 º and 36.8º.
Research findings suggest that oral temperature varies in expected ways depending on variables such as sex, age, height, weight, and time of day when the measurement is taken. These variables cause our body temperature to fluctuate, says Ortega.
Importance of the sample and limitations
Regarding the observational study now published, this specialist highlights the significant number of cases included in it, although he also points out some limitations, related, for example, to the fact that it excludes individuals under 20 years of age and over 80.
And the cross-sectional study was applied in machine learning to 618,306 adult outpatient consultations in internal medicine and family medicine units and services, excluding around 35% of diagnoses that were related precisely to temperature to avoid bias in the extracted information.
The measurements were carried out between April 2008 and June 2017 and the data were analyzed between June of that last year and June 2023.
The study reaches conclusions such as that temperature decreases with age, increases with the weight of the individuals and decreases with height, “so that taller individuals have a lower normal temperature.”
Another aspect observed in the study is that the temperature changes throughout the day, reaching the highest temperature around 4 p.m.
Ranges that must be modified
The fundamental conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that standard temperature ranges must be established that must be modified depending on sex, age, height and the time of day in which the measurement is taken, among other variables.
Other factors that influence the temperature considered normal are the menstrual cycle, in the case of women, as well as the taking of analgesics or anti-inflammatories, according to Jesús Ortega.
The normal oral temperature, according to the study, is specifically between 36.24º and 36.89º and did not reach 37º C in any subgroup, with the upper 99th percentile oscillating between 36.81º (a tall man with low weight of 80 years at 8 :00 hours) and 37.88º (a 20-year-old woman of shorter height with obesity whose temperature was taken at 2 p.m.).
The study leaves for other future investigations the determination of the clinical importance of a value outside the usual range. Covadonga Diaz
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