Abstract
Background: Sublingual temperature measurement is a quick and accurate representation of oral temperature and corresponds closely with core temperature. Sub-lingual temperature measurement using non-contact infrared thermometers has not been studied for this purpose and if accurate they would be a reliable and convenient way of recording temperature of a patient very quickly. The aim of the study was to evaluate the utility of recording sublingual temperature using an infrared non-contact thermometer and establish its accuracy by comparing the readings with tympanic thermometer recordings. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 29 patients (328 paired recordings from sublingual and tympanic sites simultaneously). Subjects were requested to keep their mouth closed for five minutes before recording the temperature. Sublingual recordings were performed for each patient at different times of the day using an infrared thermometer. The infrared thermometer was quickly brought 1cm away from the sublingual part of the tongue and the recordings were then done immediately. Readings were compared with the corresponding tympanic temperature. Results: The non-contact sublingual temperature correlated very closely with tympanic temperature (r=0.86, p<0.001). The mean difference between the infrared sublingual and tympanic temperature was 0.21°C (standard deviation [SD]:0.48°C, 95% confidence interval [CI] of 0.16-0.27). The intra-class correlation co-efficient (ICC) between core and sublingual temperatures was 0.830 (95% CI: 0.794 to 0.861) p<0.001. The sensitivity of sublingual IR (infrared) temperature of 37.65°C was 90% and specificity was 89% for core temperature >38°C. Conclusions: This innovative modification of using the forehead infrared thermometer to measure the sublingual temperature offers an accurate, rapid and non-contact estimation of core temperature.
Subject
General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine
Reference21 articles.
1. Normal oral, rectal, tympanic and axillary body temperature in adult men and women: a systematic literature review.;M Sund-Levander;Scand. J. Caring Sci.,2002 Jun
2. Body temperature variability (Part 1): a review of the history of body temperature and its variability due to site selection, biological rhythms, fitness, and aging.;G Kelly;Altern. Med. Rev.,2006 Dec
3. Oral temperature differences in relation to thermometer and technique.;R Erickson;Nurs. Res.
4. Effects of anatomic site, oral stimulation, and body position on estimates of body temperature.;R Rabinowitz;Arch. Intern. Med.,1996 Apr
5. Reliability of an infrared auditory thermometer in the measurement of oral temperature.;M Villaescusa;Med. Oral Patol. Oral Cir. Bucal.,2008
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献