Effectiveness of warm compresses in reducing the temperature of febrile children: A pilot randomized clinical trial.
Mariana Vieira de Souza, Danton Matheus de Souza, Elaine Buchhorn Cintra Damião and 3 others
PMID 36219590WHAT IT FOUND
Warm compresses added to antipyretics did not reduce febrile children's temperature more than antipyretics alone.
At the end, the antipyretic-only group had a lower temperature, and 12.5% of children receiving compresses became irritable or cried.
Key findings
01Adding warm compresses, with the child undressed for 15 minutes, to antipyretics did not give a greater temperature reduction than antipyretics alone over the measurement period.
02At the final measurement, children who received antipyretics alone had a lower mean axillary temperature than children who also received warm compresses (p=0.035).
03Irritability and crying occurred in 12.5% of children in the warm-compress group and were not observed in the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 33 children were analysed, and the study was a pilot because 37 were collected instead of the planned 288. The sample was convenience-based and came from one hospital, so it may not represent other children or settings. No blinding was possible because the compress was visible to children, families and evaluators. Four children were excluded because collection forms were incomplete. The trial registration number was generated after data collection had already begun. The same child could be included more than once if enough time had passed. The intervention included undressing as well as compresses, so the effect of the compress alone cannot be isolated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that warm compresses lower fever because children's temperatures fell. All children also received antipyretics, and the control group had a lower mean temperature at the end than the compress group.