Comparison of oral and tympanic temperatures in a Veterans Administration outpatient clinic.
BACKGROUND
To examine the accuracy of noncontact tympanic (NCT) temperatures in outpatients, we conducted a prospective study comparing NCT temperature with temperatures obtained by oral mercury thermometers.


METHODS
The study included 410 patients in whom oral and NCT temperatures were obtained.


RESULTS
Mean oral temperature was 36.47 +/- 0.44 degrees C and mean NCT temperature was 36.36 +/- 0.49 degrees C. On paired-sample, two-sided t-testing, oral temperature differed significantly from NCT temperature, with a P-value < 0.0001. The difference between simultaneous oral and NCT temperatures was > or = 1 degree F; in 63 cases, oral temperature was higher than NCT temperature.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that NCT temperature measurement is not reliable in an internal medicine outpatient clinic setting.
Abolnik
I Z
IZ
Salt Lake City VA Medical Center, University of Utah, USA.
Kithas
P A
PA
McDonnald
J J
JJ
Soller
J B
JB
Izrailevsky
Y A
YA
Granger
D L
DL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods*; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012881:Skin Temperature; D014432:Tympanic Membrane; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs