The Performance of Two Tympanic Thermometers in a Pediatric Emergency Department

Abstract

In a prospective, unblinded, controlled study, 303 children underwent comparison of rectal (RT) and right-sided tympanic membrane (TMT) temperatures. Digital electronic thermometers were used for RT, while two different infrared detection devices assessed TMT. The performance of TMT devices were compared using correlation with RT, fever detection, and ease of use. Correlation between RT and the two devices was good, r = 0.70 and r = 0.69, with little influence of patient age on performance. Using receiver operating characteristics curves to assess fever screening. Thermoscan@ performed somewhat better than First Temp@. Staff rated the Thermoscan® as significantly easier to use.