It's Time to Abandon 98.6°F (37°C)

Analysis of changing U.S. body temperature measurements over time found a progressive decline in average normal body temperature of 0.03°C per birth decade.

Every grade schooler can tell you that normal body temperature is 98.6°F (37°C), information drawn from Wunderlich's 1851 study of axillary temperature measurements in 25,000 German patients. However, more recent studies yield an average temperature of 97.9°F (36.6°C). To understand this difference, researchers analyzed 677,423 measurements from three data sets: Union Army veterans of the Civil War (UAVCW) 1862–1930, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (NHANES I) respondents 1971–1975, and the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database (STRIDE) cohort 2007–2017.

Temperature measurements progressively decreased from the UAVCW cohort to the NHANES I cohort and then to the STRIDE cohort. Across all three cohorts, tempera…

Reviewing Author

Richard T. Ellison III, MD

Disclosures

Consult/Advisory BoardAcurx Pharmaceuticals, LLC;

Grant/Research SupportDoctors Company Foundation, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Richard T. Ellison III, MD

Disclosures

Consult/Advisory BoardAcurx Pharmaceuticals, LLC;

Grant/Research SupportDoctors Company Foundation, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

It's Time to Abandon 98.6°F (37°C)

Topics

Reviewing Author