Comparing the Accuracy of Temperature Measurement between Infrared Forehead Thermometer and Tympanic Thermometer

Abstract

Background: Body temperature can be measured using an infrared forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometer. Purpose: To compare the accuracy of temperature measured between infrared forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometer. Method: A total of 342 university students participated in this research. An cross-sectional study was conducted to measure their body temperature using an infrared forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometer. A data collection form was used to collect the baseline data and the temperature of the participants. A total of 684 measurements were recorded. Results: The findings from Bland-Altman plots indicate that the body temperature measured with a forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometer at the same room temperature revealed no significant difference. The plot also indicates 95% limits of agreement between the temperature of the forehead and tympanic showed the upper limit of 0.46 and lower limit of -0.45, and the mean bias of 0.0041. Additionally, the results of one-sample t test (p= 0.744) reinforced a concordance between two body temperature measurement methods. Conclusion: The study supports the conformity of two measurement values of the infrared and tympanic thermometer and attests infrared forehead thermometer is as reliable and accurate as tympanic thermometer. Hence, infrared forehead thermometer can be used in clinical and basic practice, especially in the emergency setting, where ease of use and speed of obtaining the temperature reading are important.