Body temperature in medical inpatients: what is the meaning of fever?

A study which aimed to determine the appropriate body temperature level for diagnosing fever was conducted in 160 medical inpatients admitted to the medical wards of Chulalongkorn University Hospital. Both objective and subjective findings were used as criteria for fever. This study demonstrates that the most appropriate cutoff levels for oral, axillary and rectal body temperature measurement in clinical practice are 37.8, 37.5 and 38.3 Celsius respectively. The oral body temperature is better than the axillary and rectal body temperature for fever diagnoses in medical inpatients.