title: The effect of factors such as handedness, sex and age on body temperature measured by an infrared 'tympanic' thermometer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The effectiveness of IRET has been called into question. However, there are a number of factors that might affect ear temperature measurement. Some of these are the focus of this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  366 asymptomatic subjects (0.75 to 53 years old) volunteered to take part in this ethically approved study. The data were analysed in respect to handedness, sex and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two-way ANOVAs showed significant interactions between age group and sex (first ear measured, p = 0.017; second p = 0.298), and between handedness and sex (first ear measured, p = 0.011; second p = 0.040) in relation to their ear temperature. Ear temperatures of males tended to be lower than females, however this only found significance in the 'Early Puberty' age group (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant differences in ear temperature were seen for handedness, sex and age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have shown that handedness, sex and age might be contributory factors to ear temperature differences in the population.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Science, University of Glamorgan, Mid Glamorgan, CF37 1DL, UK. aheusch1@glam.ac
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Heusch
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suresh
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004424:Ear Canal / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology