title: Comparing no-touch and tympanic thermometer temperature recordings.
abstract: Temperature is a vital sign which can be measured using various types of clinical thermometers. Pulmonary artery temperature is considered the 'gold standard', but this measurement is not usually clinically practical. There is currently no consensus for optimal alternative site or equipment. This research compares 178 simultaneous measurements from 5 clinical areas, using two types of thermometers: tympanic and no-touch temporal. No-touch thermometers were all set to oral equivalent. Tympanic thermometers were adjusted to either oral (n=105) or core (n=73) equivalent. Maximum acceptable difference was identified as 1oC. Two data sets (oral/core; oral/oral) were analysed using Bland-Altman method on Excel programmes, comparing all thermometers and separating oral and core-equivalent tympanics. The two thermometers were found not to be equivalent. As a simple comparison between two thermometers, this research cannot identify which thermometer is more accurate.
authors.affiliation: East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust, Canterbury.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Woodrow
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buras-Rees
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Higgs
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hendrick
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitney
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boorman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McHenry
mesh_terms: D015982:Bias; D001831:Body Temperature; D002138:Calibration; D002407:Catheterization, Swan-Ganz; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D009055:Mouth; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D012016:Reference Values; D013699:Temporal Arteries; D013817:Thermography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D013821:Thermometers / Q000592:standards*; D014432:Tympanic Membrane