Precision of a new thermometer for rapid rectal temperature measurement in neonates.

The objective of this article is to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of a Penguin electronic thermometer compared with a mercury-in-glass thermometer for rectal thermometry in newborns. The mercury-in-glass thermometer is considered the "gold-standard" for rectal thermometry. Unfortunately, accurate measurement with a mercury-in-glass thermometer requires at least 4 minutes. Rectal temperature was obtained in 224 term and near-term infants using a mercury-in-glass and a Penguin thermometers. Paired t-test was used to test the difference between the means, and F-test was used to test the difference between the variances of the two instruments. One hundred and sixty-one of the temperature measurements (72%) taken with the Penguin thermometer were within +/-0.2 degrees C and 208 (93%) within +/-0.5 degrees C from the measurements made with the mercury-in-glass thermometer. The differences in means and in variances were not significantly different between the instruments. The Penguin thermometer is an accurate and reproducible tool for measuring rectal temperature in term and near-term infants compared with the mercury-in-glass thermometer.