• Ezio L Fortuna, Michele M Carney, Michelle Macy, Rachel M Stanley, John G Younger, and Stuart A Bradin.
• Children's Emergency Services, and Level E Nurse, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. monnnmn@umich.edu
• J Emerg Nurs. 2010 Mar 1; 36 (2): 101-4.

ObjectiveWe evaluated the accuracy of a non-contact infrared thermometer compared with a rectal thermometer.MethodsTwo hundred patients, ages 1 month to 4 years, were included in the study. Each child underwent contemporaneous standard rectal thermometry and mid forehead non-contact infrared thermometry. Clinical features, including chief complaint, recently administered antipyretic agents, and ambient temperature at the time of measurement, were included.AnalysisLinear models were used to compare agreement between the 2 techniques, as well as to determine bias of infrared thermometry at different rectal temperatures. Multivariate linear models were used to evaluate the impact of clinical variables and ambient temperature.ResultsA linear relationship between rectal and infrared temperature measurements was observed; however, the coefficient of determination (r(2)) value between was only 0.48 (P < 0.01). Infrared thermometry tended to overestimate the temperature of afebrile children and underestimate the temperature of febrile patients (P < .01). Ambient temperature and child age did not affect the accuracy of the device.ConclusionIn this study, non-contact infrared thermometry did not sufficiently agree with rectal thermometer to indicate its routine use.Copyright (c) 2010 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

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