Comparison of peripheral temperature measurements with core temperature

Area of Science:

• Medical Devices
• Physiology
• Clinical Thermometry

Background:

• Accurate body temperature measurement is crucial for patient assessment.
• Peripheral temperature measurements are often used as proxies for core body temperature.
• Existing peripheral methods have varying degrees of accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate peripheral methods for approximating core body temperature.
• To compare the accuracy of different thermometers (infrared, mercury, electronic, chemical) at various sites (ear, mouth, axilla, rectum).

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study design.
• Comparison of peripheral temperature readings (ear, mouth, axilla, rectum) with core temperature (pulmonary artery).
• Statistical analysis including mean difference and Pearson correlation coefficients.

Main Results:

• Significant differences found between most peripheral and core temperatures.
• Axillary chemical indicator and aural temperatures showed no significant difference.
• High correlations (≥0.79) between core temperature and oral mercury, oral electronic, axillary electronic, rectal mercury, and rectal electronic thermometers.
• Low correlations (<0.20) between core and aural temperatures.

Conclusions:

• No single peripheral method perfectly approximates core body temperature.
• Oral electronic thermometers demonstrated the best performance with a low mean difference (0.18°C) and high correlation (0.79).
• Further research may be needed to refine peripheral thermometry techniques.