The Comparison of Body Temperature with Two Methods of Tympanic or Rectal Measurement Methods

Abstract

Backgrounds and Objectives: There are debates about the reliability of fever detection via tympanic membrane by infrared detected. Some insisting on that this method is a way for core temperature measurement Similar to rectal measurement. Materials and Methods: in a cross sectional study 50 children (3-36 months) were evaluated for temperature measurement by both Infrared tympanic method and traditional rectal core temperature measurement were recorded and analyzed by statistical methods. Results: 50 children aged between 3 to 36 months entered to study, their mean age ±SD were 28±10 months .Their rectal mean ±SD temperature were 37.87±0.4 these measures for tympanic infrared technique were 36.49±0.5 °C this difference was 1.38 °C that was significant (p less than 0.0001) . Conclusion: Tympanic measurement methods is simple and feasible but there is a significant difference between it and rectal temperature measurement, and addition it has a low sensitivity to detect fever in children below 36 months and it is not a convenient method for fever expression in children.

Keywords: Fever, Rectal, Tympan