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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

NexTemp thermometer can be used interchangeably with tympanic or mercury thermometers for emergency department use.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the agreement between the chemical dot NexTemp thermometer with mercury and tympanic thermometers and the repeatability of measurements using these devices. METHODS: A prospective study involving a convenience sample of 194 consenting adult patients presenting to the ED, Freemasons Hospital, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A survey of emergency medical staff was conducted to determine what they considered an acceptable level of agreement and repeatability for a putative new thermometer. The NexTemp thermometer's performance was judged against this. For each thermometer, a set of two temperature measurements was made in every patient. The sequence of the set of readings (and hence device) was random between patients and the staff member performing one set was blinded to the results of the other two sets of readings in each patient. The method of Bland and Altman was used for assessing agreement and repeatability. RESULTS: Clinicians considered that a new thermometer should exhibit repeatability of +/- 0.3 degrees C and agree with existing devices within +/- 0.5 degrees C. The tympanic thermometer had 95% limits of repeatability of -0.8-0.5 degrees C compared with the NexTemp (-0.3-0.4 degrees C) and mercury thermometers (-0.3-0.4 degrees C). The NexTemp thermometer agreed with mercury thermometer within -0.6-0.5 degrees C. The tympanic thermometer agreed with the mercury thermometer within -1.0-1.1 degrees C. CONCLUSION: Based on temperature measurement only, the NexTemp thermometer can be used interchangeably with current mercury and tympanic thermometers.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Subjective assessment of fever by parents: comparison with measurement by noncontact tympanic thermometer and calibrated rectal glass mercury thermometer.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the ability of parents to subjectively evaluate their children for fever and to compare their assessments with temperature measurements made with the use of a noncontact tympanic (NCT) or rectal glass mercury thermometer. A secondary goal was to assess how well a recently developed definition of fever for NCT thermometers, when used in the ear-equivalent mode (temperature of 37.7 degrees C or more), performed in a clinical situation. METHODS: This 6-month prospective observational study employed a convenience sample of 180 children, aged birth to 4 years, who presented to the emergency department of a tertiary care children's hospital. Parents were asked to subjectively assess whether their child had a fever. The child's temperature was then measured with an NCT thermometer (three times in the rectal-equivalent mode and three times in the actual-ear mode). Both the subjective assessment and the NCT temperatures were compared with the rectal temperature measured by a rectal glass mercury thermometer. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 14.6 +/- 11.8 months (range, 2 days to 48 months); 56% were boys. The sensitivity of parental detection of fever by subjective means was 81.8% and the specificity 76.5%. The parent and the rectal glass thermometer agreed 79% of the time (95% confidence interval [CI], 73% to 85%). The sensitivity of the first temperature reading obtained with the NCT thermometer in rectal-equivalent mode was 74.7%, and the specificity was 96.3%. The NCT thermometer and the rectal glass thermometer agreed 84% of the time (95% CI, 78% to 89%). Use of the proposed definition of fever for NCT thermometers, when used in the ear-equivalent mode, caused sensitivity of a single measurement for fever to drop to 53.5%. CONCLUSION: Parental subjective assessment of fever agreed with the presence of fever as measured by rectal glass thermometer in 79% of cases. Specificity was improved with the use of the NCT thermometer. The recently proposed definition for fever for NCT thermometers, when they are used in the ear-equivalent mode, does not appear to be validated by the current data.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1999

Comparison of the oral thermometer versus the tympanic thermometer.

After the use of tympanic thermometers replaced the use of oral thermometers at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, the nursing staff initiated a comparison study of the two instruments, monitoring 160 temperature readings. Current studies demonstrate that tympanic thermometers give presumably higher temperature readings than do oral thermometers. The study question asked was: Is there a clinically statistical difference between the measures of the two instruments? A statistically significant difference was found between the readings of the two instruments. Despite published results that infrared thermometers provide readings closer to core temperature than oral thermometers, the oral thermometer registered higher in 69% of the subjects. It may be premature to conclude that the oral thermometer is not as accurate as the tympanic thermometer. Removal of this proven oral system may need to be evaluated, and further comparison studies should be conducted before the tympanic thermometer is unconditionally embraced as the more accurate of the two.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Unreliability of the infrared tympanic thermometer in clinical practice: a comparative study with oral mercury and oral electronic thermometers.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to determine the magnitude and frequency of measurement errors with infrared tympanic thermometers in the clinical setting. METHODS: In a convenience sample of 137 adult inpatients, we compared body temperatures measured by a Diatek 9000 Infrared Aural Thermometer and an IVAC 2090 CoreCheck Tympanic Thermometer between themselves, in right versus left ears, and against concurrently measured oral temperatures using both an electronic thermoprobe and conventional glass mercury thermometer. RESULTS: There was a significant between-brand difference of 0.6 degrees C (IVAC <Diatek) for both ears; right-versus-left ear temperature group differences were not statistically significant with either thermometer, but ear-to-ear temperature variation was large, with individual right-left differences as great as 2.5 degrees C; significant differences were found between oral and ear temperatures with the IVAC thermometer (0.5 degrees C, ear <oral) but not with the Diatek thermometer; no significant difference was found between oral electronic and mercury temperature measurements; and cerumen had no significant effect on ear temperature measurements. CONCLUSIONS: The variability and inaccuracy of temperatures measured by the infrared tympanic thermometers were sufficiently large to suggest that the use of these devices for routine thermometry may be potentially hazardous.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Comparison of standard mercury thermometer and the liquid crystal device skin contact thermometer in febrile children at Eldoret District Hospital.

The purpose of this study was to compare the temperature readings obtained from febrile children using the conventional glass mercury thermometer and the liquid crystal device skin contact thermometer. 56 children with fever were studied irrespective of the cause. In 30 children, the mercury thermometer recorded higher readings than the LCD skin contact thermometer by an average of 0.67 degree C while in 12 children the LCD thermometer recorded higher readings than the mercury thermometer by an average of 0.34 degree C. There was no temperature reading difference in 14 children between the two methods. It is concluded that LCD thermometer is a useful, cost effective, safe and durable alternative to mercury thermometers especially in developing countries.

Bias↗
PubMed1990

[Body temperature measurement. A comparison of rectal measurement using a mercury thermometer with oral axillary measurement using a new electronic thermometer].

New methods for measuring body temperature are marketed regularly. In our department we used an electronic thermometer (Craftemp) which measured oral or axillary temperature. Since we doubted the accuracy of the measurements made with this device, we compared the values found using this thermometer with values from a conventional mercury thermometer, both in a thermostatic regulated water bath and when used clinically. There was good conformity between the results in the water bath. However, when the thermometer was used clinically, in half the patients there was a difference of 0.5 degrees C or more from the rectal temperature measured with a mercury thermometer. Most of the beds in our department are occupied by geriatric patients with age-related diseases. Many of them also have mental disturbances (e.g. dementia), which makes adequate cooperation during the measuring procedure uncertain. This study indicates that the electronic thermometer (Craftemp) is not suitable in a department like ours with many old disabled patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Reading children's temperatures with the tympanic infrared thermometer and the rectal mercury thermometer: equally good results in the emergency room].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of reading body temperatures with a tympanic infrared thermometer and a rectal mercury thermometer in children in an emergency department. DESIGN: Prospective comparative study. SETTING: St. Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg, the Netherlands. METHOD: In children up to 11 years of age seen in the emergency room between 1 January 1994 and 1 April 1994, the body temperature was measured with a rectal mercury thermometer as well as with a tympanic infrared thermometer. Data were collected on temperature read, clinical picture on arrival (not ill, ill, seriously ill) and appearance of the tympanic membrane (signs of acute otitis media, presence of cerumen). For the statistical comparison, the differences between the findings of the two methods were plotted against the means. The sensitivity and specificity of the results of tympanic measurement in relation to the values read rectally were determined. RESULTS: Data were collected on 213 children, of whom 19 were younger than 3 months, 46 between 3 and 12 months, and 148 between 1 and 11 years. The mean temperatures measured with the rectal and tympanic thermometers were 38.01 and 38.03 degrees C, respectively. The mean difference between the rectal and tympanic temperatures was -0.013 degree C. The correlation between the rectal and tympanic temperatures was high (r = 0.86; P = 0.0001). The results were the same in groups differing in age, severity of disease and appearance of the tympanic membrane. The sensitivity of the tympanic measurement for fever (rectal temperature > 38.0 degrees C) was 80.6% with a specificity of 92.5%. The sensitivity was 83.8% when a rectal temperature > 38.5 degrees C was taken as the criterion, with a specificity of 95.9%. CONCLUSION: The tympanic infrared measurement in children in an emergency department gave the same results as rectal measurement using a mercury thermometer.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Measurement of the body temperature of adults by rectal digital thermometer and the infrared tympanic thermometer: equally good results in the department of internal medicine].

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether, in clinical practice, the infrared tympanic thermometer shows temperature readings similar to those obtained with the rectal digital thermometer, so that the former can replace the latter. DESIGN: Prospective comparative study. SETTING: Academic Hospital, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. METHOD: In 104 patients admitted to the department of medicine, body temperature was measured by both methods within approximately ten minutes. This was done on two successive days. The measurements were then analysed by plotting the difference between two measurements against their mean. Then the limits of agreement, which are the mean of the differences between the two measurements plus and minus 2 standard deviations, were determined. With both thermometers also duplicate measurements were made to study the repeatability. RESULTS: The mean difference between the 2 methods in the first measurement was 0.15 degree C (SD: 0.56), in the second measurement it was 0.07 degree C (0.52). The limits of agreement were 1.27 degrees C and -0.97 degree C for the first comparisons and 1.13 degrees C and -0.99 degree C for the second comparisons. In the duplicate measurements, the mean difference between the first and the second measurement was 0.02 degree C (0.19) in the rectal measurement, and 0.09 degree C (0.23) in the tympanic measurement. The patients found the tympanic measurements significantly less painful and unpleasant than the rectal measurement. The mean time needed for the tympanic measurements (8 s) was ten times less than for the rectal measurements (79 s). CONCLUSION: The results of this study show good agreement between the infrared tympanic thermometer and the rectal digital thermometer so that they may be regarded as interchangeable. The patients had a clear preference for the tympanic thermometer, which also took less time.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[The ear thermometer; not a good replacement for the rectal thermometer].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the measurements of body temperature with the tympanic infrared thermometer and the digital rectal thermometer. DESIGN: Prospective, comparative. SETTING: Beatrix Hospital, Gorinchem, the Netherlands. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 2057 almost simultaneous measurements of rectal and tympanic temperature were performed in 164 patients in 9 different wards. RESULTS: The mean difference between the two methods was 0.45 degree C with a standard deviation of 0.57 degree C. The tympanic temperature was lower than the rectal temperature. The differences ranged from -1.5 to 3.6 degrees C. The correlation coefficient was 0.69. If a rectal temperature > 37.8 degrees C was applied as the criterion of fever, the diagnosis was not made in 175/291 measuring moments (60%) with the tympanic thermometer. If a tympanic temperature > 37.8 degrees C was applied as the criterion of fever, the rectal thermometer failed to show fever in 16/132 measuring moments (12%). CONCLUSION: The low sensitivity of the tympanic measurement to establish fever renders the tympanic infrared thermometer unsuitable for use as a fever thermometer.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of body temperature in cats using a veterinary infrared thermometer and a digital rectal thermometer.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the temperatures obtained using a veterinary infrared (IR) thermometer agreed with a digital rectal thermometer in a group of research cats, half of which had transient fevers. The thermometers were weakly correlated (r=0.62). The mean difference was 0.13 degrees F (0.07 degrees C), and the limits of agreement were 2.6 degrees F (1.43 degrees C) and -2.5 degrees F (-1.36 degrees C), which were unacceptable for clinical purposes. The results of this study indicate that, while the IR thermometer was easy to use, it cannot be used interchangeably with the rectal thermometer.

Animals↗
PubMed1961

Studies on disinfection of clinical thermometers. II. Oral thermometers from a tuberculosis sanatorium.

A study was made of the chemical disinfection of oral thermometers used by patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Only 10% of these thermometers were found to be contaminated with acid-fast bacilli. Because of this small number, the use of a phenol coefficient type test with Mycobacterium tuberculosis was suggested as an alternative method for evaluating tuberculocidal activity. These data, in conjunction with data from Part I of these studies dealing with disinfection of oral thermometers from a general hospital, were the criteria used to judge the efficacy of the disinfectants. It was concluded that 70% ethyl alcohol, 2% phenolic no. 1, and 3% phenolic no. 3 were reliable disinfectants for thermometers. Fifty per cent ethyl alcohol, 2% phenolic no. 2, 2% iodophor (300 ppm available iodine), and 0.1% benzalkonium chloride, aqueous or tincture, were unreliable.

Benzalkonium Compounds↗
PubMed2005

Development of an Impact Thermometer for use in combination with the Distress Thermometer as a brief screening tool for adjustment disorders and/or major depression in cancer patients.

Screening cancer patients for adjustment disorders and major depression is important, because both are prevalent and often underrecognized. The purpose of this study was to validate the Distress and Impact Thermometer, a 2-item questionnaire, which we newly developed as a brief screening tool for detection of adjustment disorders and/or major depression. Two hundred ninety-five cancer patients completed the Distress and Impact Thermometer and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and were examined by psychiatrists based on DSM-IV criteria. Using cutoff points for detection of adjustment disorders and major depression of "3/4" on "distress" score and "2/3" on "impact," the sensitivity and specificity were 0.82 and 0.82, respectively. Screening performance of the Distress and Impact Thermometer was comparable to that of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Its brevity and good performance suggest that the Distress and Impact Thermometer is an effective tool for routine screening in clinical oncology settings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Comparison of Body Temperatures of Goats, Horses, and Sheep Measured With a Tympanic Infrared Thermometer, an Implantable Microchip Transponder, and a Rectal Thermometer.

Body temperature of goats, horses, and sheep was measured, using 3 methods. Tympanic temperature was measured with a tympanic infrared thermometer, subcutaneous temperature was measured with an implantable microchip transponder, and rectal temperature was measured with a digital thermometer. For goats, rectal and subcutaneous temperatures were significantly higher than tympanic temperatures, but rectal and subcutaneous temperatures did not differ significantly. For horses and sheep, rectal temperatures were significantly higher than tympanic and subcutaneous temperatures, and tympanic temperatures were significantly higher than subcutaneous temperatures. Tympanic infrared thermometry correlated well with traditional rectal thermometry in goats and sheep and should be considered as a viable alternative in those species. Additionally, implantable microchip transponders in goats could be used, because those temperatures also correlated well with temperatures derived by rectal thermometry. Due to the poor correlation with rectal thermometry and reaction of some animals to insertion of the tympanic probe, neither of the alternative methods appear to be useful in horses at this time. Tympanic infrared thermometers and implantable microchip transponders were convenient to use and allowed temperature measurements to be obtained more rapidly than when rectal thermometers were used.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Infrared tympanic thermometer: evaluation of a new clinical thermometer.

We have evaluated a new clinical thermometer for accuracy. It determines temperature by measuring infrared radiation given off by a warm object. It was found to be accurate both in vivo and in vitro over the temperature range of 34.0 degrees to 39.5 degrees C. The in vivo assessment was made in patients in the ICU after their return from open heart surgery. The infrared tympanic thermometer tracked the core temperature (as measured by the thermistor tip of the pulmonary artery catheter) closely, with a correlation coefficient of 0.98, and took less than 2 sec to measure. We found this new thermometer to be accurate and, in our opinion, easily usable in the clinical situation.

Body Temperature↗
PubMed2002

Measurement of body temperature by use of auricular thermometers versus rectal thermometers in dogs with otitis externa.

OBJECTIVE: To compare measurements of body temperature obtained with auricular thermometers versus rectal thermometers in dogs with otitis externa. DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS: 100 client-owned dogs: 50 with and 50 without clinical evidence of otitis externa. PROCEDURE: Dogs were evaluated for the presence of otitis externa on the basis of clinical signs, otoscopic examination, and cytologic evaluation of ear exudate. Auricular and rectal temperatures were obtained simultaneously in all dogs prior to and following ear examination. RESULTS: There was a high correlation between auricular and rectal temperatures in dogs with otitis externa both prior to and after ear manipulation. Significant differences were not detected in temperature measurements among dogs with different degrees of otitis externa. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Auricular temperature readings obtained by use of an auricular thermometer in dogs with otitis externa are accurate measurements of body temperature, compared with rectal temperature measurements. Temperature measurements are reliable before and after examination of the ear canal.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Should electronic mouth thermometers be used in routine everyday hospital practice? Usefulness of mouth thermometers].

An oral electronic thermometer was compared with Hg-thermometer used rectally in the daily clinical routine. The rectal temperatures were, on an average, 0.7 degrees C higher than the oral temperatures. In 27% of the cases, the difference between rectal and oral measurement was more than 1 degree C. The variations between the differences of oral and rectal temperature measurement were unacceptable. It is concluded that the precision of oral electronic thermometers was not found to be satisfactory, and employment of this apparatus can not be recommended in daily clinical work.

Electronics↗
PubMed2000

Accuracy of digital tympanic, oral, axillary, and rectal thermometers compared with standard rectal mercury thermometers.

OBJECTIVE: To compare a number of electronic tympanic, oral, axillary, and rectal measurements with those taken with a standard rectal mercury thermometer. DESIGN: Prospective open study. SETTING: County hospital, Denmark. SUBJECTS: 200 patients. INTERVENTIONS: Each of 200 patients had 6 electronic measurements of body temperature: 3 in the auditory canal using Ivac Core Check 2090A, Diateck 9000, and Genius 3000A, 1 in the axilla using Terumo Digital C202. 1 in the mouth using Terumo Digital C402, and 1 in the rectum using a Terumo Digital C402. These were compared with readings from a standard mercury glass thermometer in the rectum. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Accuracy of electronic thermometry. RESULTS: The rectal electronic measurements were closest to the rectal mercury readings, with a mean (SD) of -0.05 degrees C (0.12), whereas the other measurements gave unacceptable SDs of temperature differences ranging from 0.41 degrees C to 0.53 degrees C. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that electronic rectal temperature measurements are the most accurate. We do not recommend electronic tympanic, oral, or axillary measurements.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Comparing liquid crystal thermometer readings and mercury thermometer readings of infants and children in a traditional African setting. Implications for community-based health.

Liquid crystal thermometer (LCT) readings of skin temperatures were compared with mercury thermometer (MT) rectal temperature readings to assess the reliability of LCTs. Temperatures of 498 children were measured at two points in time. LCT skin temperature readings of children 0 to 52 months were on average 0.50 degrees C and 1.97 degrees C lower than MT rectal temperature readings. A strong correlation between temperature differences and LCT readings indicated that the greatest differences occurred at the lower LCT readings. These conclusions indicate LCT skin readings undermeasure temperature. Some of these differences were due to MTs not measuring temperatures below 35 degrees C. Children under 1 year of age had significantly greater differences than any other age group. Their LCT readings were, on average, 1.65 degrees C lower than their MT readings. Using MTs as a standard, LCTs were 100% sensitive and 92% specific for detecting children with hypothermia. LCTs were 38.5% sensitive and 100% specific for detecting fevers. These results suggest that LCTs leave undetected a large proportion of children who have fevers. However, they are sensitive for identifying children with hypothermia. A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) study indicated that local mothers can be identified who understand principles and procedures of LCTs, and accept them for health care of their child.

Age Factors↗