Normal Body Temperature

• 98.6° F (37°C) is the oral temperature that most physicians, nurses, laypersons, and medical references state is "normal."
• The average temperature of healthy elderly patients is the same as younger adults. However, there is some data to suggest that the average temperature in chronically ill elderly patients is lower than that of other healthy adults. Thus, interpretation of a temperature reading in a chronically ill elderly adult must be done with caution. Because lower baseline temperatures can be expected in this group of patients, it may be easy to miss a fever if the conventional fever definition is used.