Are all Thermometers Equal? A Study of Three Infrared Thermometers to Detect Fever in an African Outpatient Clinic.

Infrared thermometry has certain advantages over traditional oral thermometry including quick, non-invasive administration and an absence of required consumables. This study compared the performance of tympanic, temporal artery and forehead contactless thermometers with traditional oral electronic thermometer in measuring temperature in outpatients in a Nigerian secondary care hospital. A convenience sample of 100 male and 100 female adult patients (Mean age= 38.46 years, SD= 16.33 years) were recruited from a secondary care hospital in Kano, Nigeria. Temperature measurements were taken from each patient using the tympanic, temporal artery and contactless thermometers and oral electronic thermometer. Data was analyzed to assess bias and limits using scatterplots and Bland-Altman charts while sensitivity analysis was done using ROC curves. The tympanic and temporal artery thermometers systematically gave higher temperature readings compared to the oral electronic thermometer. Contactless thermometer gave lower readings compared to the oral electronic thermometer. Temporal artery thermometer had the highest sensitivity (88%) and specificity (88%) among the three infrared thermometers. Contactless thermometer showed a low sensitivity of 13% to detect fever greater than 38⁰C. Our study shows that replacing oral thermometers with infrared thermometers must be done with caution despite the associated convenience and cost savings.

Assessment of Saudi Parents’ Beliefs and Behaviors towards Management of Child Fever in Saudi Arabia—A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: Fever alone can lead to rare serious complications in children, such as febrile seizures. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and behavior of parents toward fever and its management. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire was applied over a period of 3 months, from January to March 2018, to parents who were living in Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criteria were a parent who is a resident of Saudi Arabia, with at least one child aged 6 years or less, while incomplete questionnaires, having a child aged more than 6 years, or parents who were not living in Saudi Arabia were excluded. Results: A total of 656 parents completed the questionnaire. More than two-thirds of the subjects were female, the majority of whom were aged between 25–33 years old. The best-reported place to measure the temperature of children was the armpit (46%), followed by the ear (28%) and the mouth (10.7%). More than half of the parents considered their children feverish at a temperature of 38 °C. The majority of parents (79.7%) reported that the most serious side effects of fever were seizure, brain damage (39.3%), coma (29.9%), dehydration (29.7%), and death (25%). The most common method used to measure a child’s temperature was an electronic thermometer (62.3%). The most common antipyretic was paracetamol (84.5%). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the good knowledge of parents in identifying a feverish temperature using the recommended route and tools for measuring body temperature.

Estudio Analítico: Prevalencia de Hipotermia y Factores Asociados en el Postoperatorio Inmediato en Cirugía del Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso, Cuenca – Ecuador, 2016

BACKGROUND: Perioperative hypothermia is the decrease in temperature, below 36 °C after surgery that is linked to immediate and late complications. The control of hypothermia reduces morbidity, mortality, and the time of integration of patients to their social and family environment. The objective of the present study is to determine the prevalence of inadvertent hypothermia and associated factors in the immediate postoperative period. METHODS: The present is a cross-sectional analytical study, working with male and female patients from 18 to 70 years old, undergoing elective surgeries at the Hospital Vicente Corral Moscoso, from May 16 to August 11, 2016. It was evaluated the temperature with an electronic thermometer and the associated variables through a form prepared by the researchers. The statistical programs PSPP 0.10.4 were used for the bivariate and multivariate analysis and EPI INFO 7. RESULTS: Of the 267 patients investigated, 68.5 % developed hypothermia in the immediate postoperative period. General anesthesia increases 1.8 times the risk of developing hypothermia with a statistically significant value, as well as an anesthesia time greater than 60 minutes but with a value of borderline significance. CONCLUSIONS: The factors associated with the development of hypothermia are: the use of general anesthesia and the anesthetic exposure time greater than 60 minutes. We recommend taking temperature in patients before, during and after the surgical procedure, to act in a timely manner before the onset of hypothermia.

Calibration of Thermostatic Bath Used on Electronic Thermometer Verification

In order to research the uniformity and volatility of thermostatic bath used on electronic thermometer verification, a method based on thermostat technical performance specifications is presented. Including the introduction of calibration device, the choice of standard device and experiment method. In the end the uncertainty analysis on the measurement of thermostatic bath uniformity and volatility is made. Experiment results show that the uniformity and volatility of this thermostatic bath are 0.0091°C and 0.0087°C/10min with the measurement uncertainty of 0.018°C, The results meet the requirements of electronic thermometer verification. It provides guarantee for the next electronic thermometer verification.

Study on the Preparation and Implementation of a New Type Digital Electronic Thermometer

Human body temperature, as a manifestation of life activity, is an important physiological parameter of the new supersedes the old. The body temperature not only has physiological significance, but also has important clinical significance, which can be considered as an important index for clinical diagnosis. Based on the NTC temperature sensor as the core, through the whole system framework construction and the software control system design, a quick and accurate intelligent digital electronic thermometer was prepared. Under software control, intelligent temperature measurement is realized. The thermometer not only can accurately register the temperature, also has many functions such as broadcast and logic judgment on temperature, in which, the display module will judge and display the measurement results.