Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative effectiveness of two methods of administration of the cooling bath for reducing fever due to infection. Fifteen infants and children age six months to three years with rectal temperatures of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or over were included in the study.

The experimental method with a retroactive comparison of a parallel group was the research approach used. For a previous study by Kueffner, seven subjects had been immersed in tubs of water 95 degrees Fahrenheit which was gradually reduced to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, each subject remaining in the tub a total of twenty minutes. These subjects were the Kueffner Group for this study. The eight subjects in the Experimental Group were immersed in tubs of water 100 degrees Fahrenheit which was gradually reduced to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, each subject remaining in the tub for a total of fifteen minutes.

Immediately following each procedure, each subject was gently dried with a cotton bath blanket. A rectal temperature was taken immediately before the administration of each cooling bath and at fifteen, thirty, forty-five, and sixty minute intervals following the procedure. The relative effectiveness of the method of administration of the cooling bath was evaluated by the measured amount of drop in rectal temperature following the bath.

Analyses were made of the diagnosis, age, body surface area, and initial temperature of the subjects. An analysis of the mean drop in temperature indicated that the mean temperature of subjects given the cool immersion bath was lower for all time intervals than was the mean temperature of subjects given the warm immersion bath. The mean temperature drop for subjects in the Kueffner Group who were given the cool immersion bath was a maximum 3.2 degrees thirty minutes following the treatment and was 1.94 degrees Fahrenheit sixty minutes following the treatment. The mean temperature drop for subjects in the Experimental Group who were given the warm immersion bath showed a gradual decline following the treatment and was 1.22 degrees Fahrenheit at the end of one hour.

Because of the small number of subjects it was impossible to draw unqualified conclusions, but it would appear that immersion in a tub of water 95 degrees Fahrenheit which was gradually reduced to 75 degrees was more effective than the warm immersion bath as used in this study for causing a drop in rectal temperatures due to infection in children.

While no criteria were set up to evaluate the reaction of subjects to each treatment, the subjects in the Kueffner Group cried vigorously during the cool bath while the subjects in the Experimental Group were able to relax and enjoy the warm bath. Following the warm bath three of the subjects went to sleep which was in contrast to their generally restless and irritable state before the bath.

LLU Discipline

Nursing

Department

Nursing

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Betty J. Trubey

Second Advisor

Nord S. Nation

Third Advisor

Sadie B. Sinclair

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1963

Date (Title Page)

6-1963

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Hydrotherapy; Fever -- therapy

Type

Thesis

Page Count

vii; 50

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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