title: Supralingual temperatures compared to tympanic and rectal temperatures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the validity, reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of the PaciTemp supralingual digital pacifier thermometer as compared to the Thermoscan Instant tympanic and glass-mercury rectal thermometers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-one children under the age of 2 years had temperatures taken sequentially at three body sites: supralingual, tympanic, and rectal. Corrections were calculated between the readings of the three types of thermometers. Percentage of agreement was done to examine sensitivity and specificity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using the glass-mercury measurement as the standard, both the supralingual and tympanic measurements showed an overall specificity of 62.8% and sensitivity of 63.3%. Correlation between rectal and supralingual was 0.62, and correlation between rectal and tympanic was 0.71.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Paci-Temp provides temperature readings that are similar to the tympanic method as compared to the rectal method. Further research on at-home thermometers is needed.
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University College of Nursing in Provo, UT, USA. renea_beckstrand@byu.edu
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Beckstrand
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilshaw
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Schaalje
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009055:Mouth; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D012007:Rectum; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013821:Thermometers / Q000592:standards*; D014432:Tympanic Membrane