The relative accuracy of mercury, Tempa-DOT and FeverScan thermometers.
This project aimed to assess the accuracy of Tempa-DOT and FeverScan for measuring children's temperatures. Tempa-DOT is a small flat chemical thermometer with 50 dots that change colour at specific temperatures. FeverScan is a liquid crystal strip thermometer with temperature sensitive colour bars that change colour when held against the forehead. Two medical students undertook this study in a hospital in Zambia. They saw most children presented to the hospital over a six-week period and on the children's ward. A mercury thermometer was placed in one axilla, a Tempa-DOT thermometer in the other, and the FeverScan was held on the child's forehead. Data were obtained from 1090 children with a median age of two years. The sensitivity of FeverScan to correctly identify febrile children was 89% and the positive predictive value to detect a fever was 57%. The sensitivity of Tempa-DOT to correctly identify febrile children was 92% and the positive predictive value for detecting febrile children was 86%. Tempa-DOT has a much better predictive value than FeverScan for detecting fever.
Morley
C
C
University of Cambridge, Department of Paediatrics, Addenbrookes Hospital, UK. morleyc@cryptic.rch.unimelb.edu.au
Murray
M
M
Whybrew
K
K
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008628:Mercury; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013821:Thermometers; D015024:Zambia
D008628:Mercury