Circulating Illness and Changes in Thermometer Use Behavior: Series of Cross-sectional Analyses

BackgroundTemperature-taking behaviors vary with levels of circulating infectious illness; however, little is known about how these behaviors differ by demographic characteristics. Populations with higher perceived risks of illness are more likely to adopt protective health behaviors. ObjectiveWe investigated differences in temperature-taking frequency and the proportion of readings that were feverish among demographic groups (age, gender, urban/rural status) over influenza offseason; influenza season; and waves 1, 2, and 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsUsing data from smart thermometers collected from May 1, 2019, to February 28, 2021, across the United States, we calculated the frequency of temperature-taking and the proportion of temperature readings that were feverish. Mixed-effects negative binomial and mixed-effects logistic regression analyses were performed to identify demographic characteristics associated with temperature-taking frequency and the proportion of feverish readings, respectively. Separate models were fit over five study periods: influenza offseason (n=122,480), influenza season (n=174,191), wave 1 of COVID-19 (n=350,385), wave 2 (n=366,489), and wave 3 (n=391,578). ResultsBoth temperature-taking frequency and the proportion of feverish readings differed by study period (ANOVA P