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Pyrexia in infection in the elderly

C H McAlpine, B J Martin, I M Lennox

    Age and Ageing
    |July 1, 1986
    PubMed

    Insights

    Elderly patients with infection are usually pyrexial (feverish). Effective temperature monitoring is crucial for detecting fever in older adults, as it is present in most infections.

    Area of Science:

    • Geriatrics
    • Infectious Diseases
    • Clinical Medicine

    Background:

    • A common clinical belief suggests pyrexia (fever) is often absent in elderly patients with infections.
    • Accurate assessment of infection in the elderly is critical due to their unique physiological responses.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the frequency of pyrexia in elderly patients diagnosed with infections.
    • To evaluate the effectiveness of different temperature monitoring methods in this population.

    Main Methods:

    • Prospective study involving 150 elderly patients (mean age 81 years) admitted to a unit.
    • Oral temperature monitoring using both mercury and electronic thermometers.
    • Development of an infection scoring system excluding temperature to objectively assess infection likelihood.

    Main Results:

    • Of 71 patients with definite infection, 95% exhibited pyrexia.
    • Eight out of nine patients with probable infection were also pyrexial.
    • Electronic thermometers detected 10% more fevers than mercury thermometers; 12% of fevers appeared over 12 hours after monitoring began.

    Conclusions:

    • Pyrexia is detectable in the vast majority of infected elderly patients.
    • Effective and consistent temperature monitoring is essential for identifying infections in this demographic.
    • Electronic thermometers may offer advantages in detecting subtle or delayed fever onset.

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