Monitoring Temperature: Knowledge and Skills of Outpatients With Cancer

Elevated temperature can be the first sign of infection; obtaining an accurate temperature in patients undergoing chemotherapy is critical.

This study sought to determine outpatients' temperature-monitoring knowledge and skills; whether an educational DVD could increase knowledge; and the level of agreement between a home thermometer and a calibrated hospital thermometer.

The intervention was an educational DVD. Patients completed a survey and were observed taking their temperature. Investigators rated whether the correct steps were taken and then obtained the temperature. The bias and precision of the patient's thermometer were determined.

Knowledge scores averaged 68%. Most participants correctly identified elevated temperatures for fever (91%); less than 50% correctly identified other signs of infection, and less than 25% correctly identified activities that could falsely elevate or depress temperature readings.