Continuous temperature monitoring: A systematic review of literature findings.

Abstract

e13625 Background: Recent studies have determined continuous temperature monitoring (CTM) identifies fever up to 12 hours earlier than intermittent temperature monitoring in patients with neutropenic fever. In 2010, Van Vliet showed CTM enabled the early administration of antibiotics. Verma and colleagues (2021) reported that self-monitored temperature taking was frequently inaccurate. Nessle et al. (2022) observed 2 instances of fever, associated with bloodstream infections, detected by CTM 5 hours and 12 hours earlier than oral temperature. CTM records 8,640 data points in 24 hours versus the current standard of care (SOC), which typically measures up to 6 data points in 24 hours. The increased frequency of data collection presents a comprehensive picture of the patient’s status which enables earlier detection in trends or patterns of fever. As a result, earlier medical evaluation and prompt administration of antibiotics has led to improved patient care and outcomes. Methods: A literature review was executed to determine the validity of evidence available related to CTM utilization in both oncology and other high-risk therapeutic areas. Levels of evidence were assigned based on the design, methodology, validity, and applicability of the studies. Journal impact scores were added to support findings and implementation into real-world practices. A table was created to organize the data, including level of evidence, journal impact score, and study results. Results: This review of the literature included 17 documents related to CTM. Levels of evidence for CTM include 4 documents with Level 1 and 5 documents with Level 2 evidence. The journal impact scores found 6 of the 17 documents to be above 5. Overall, the study results showed a positive correlation between the use of CTM and earlier fever detection. Conclusions: CTM use has grown in recent years; however, there is still a need for randomized controlled trials to observe health economic, and clinical outcomes. CTM allows for earlier detection of fever, improving patient outcomes over SOC in high-risk patients. CTM should be considered a clinical decision tool to enhance current vital sign monitoring, thereby improving neutropenic patient care.