Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, The University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
J Dairy Sci. 2010 Feb;93(2):624-7. doi: 10.3168/jds.2009-2689.
Although taking body temperature by rectal thermometer is the method most commonly used to identify sick cows in the postpartum period, no data on the repeatability of this measure are available. The overall objective of this study was to evaluate variability of rectal temperatures in dairy cows considering different factors (intra- and interinvestigator repeatability, different thermometers, penetration depth into the rectum, and defecation). High coefficients of correlation (r=0.98) and small differences between values of rectal temperatures (observer A=39.3+/-1.0 degrees C and observer B=39.4+/-1.0 degrees C) provide evidence that rectal temperature was a repeatable measure in dairy cows. Testing was carried out using 4 different digital thermometers: GLA M750 (GLA Agricultural Electronics, San Luis Obispo, CA), MTI8101 (SES Scala Electronics, Stahnsdorf, Germany), MT1831 (Microlife AG, Widnau, Switzerland) and Domotherm TH1 (Uebe Medical GmbH, Wertheim, Germany). Thermometers were inserted into the rectum to a certain depth (GLA M750 and MTI8101=11.5cm; MT1831=8.4cm; Domotherm TH1=7.7cm) and a measure was finished when a visual or acoustic signal was emitted by the thermometer. The measures could be influenced by the procedure itself (up to 0.5 degrees C), type of thermometer (up to 0.3 degrees C), and the penetration depth (11.5cm or 6.0cm in one of the experiments) into the rectum (up to 0.4 degrees C difference between a penetration depth of 11.5cm and 6.0cm in one of the experiments). Differences in rectal temperature before and after defecation were minor (<0.1 degrees C). These results indicate that some care is required in generalizing rectal measures of body temperature.
虽然通过直肠温度计测量体温是产后识别病牛最常用的方法，但目前还没有关于这种测量方法重复性的数据。本研究的总体目标是评估不同因素（观察者内和观察者间重复性、不同温度计、直肠插入深度和排便）对奶牛直肠温度的变异性。高相关系数（r=0.98）和直肠温度值之间的微小差异（观察者 A=39.3+/-1.0 摄氏度和观察者 B=39.4+/-1.0 摄氏度）表明直肠温度是奶牛的一种可重复测量方法。测试使用了 4 种不同的数字温度计：GLA M750（GLA Agricultural Electronics，圣路易斯奥比斯波，加利福尼亚州）、MTI8101（SES Scala Electronics，斯塔恩斯多夫，德国）、MT1831（Microlife AG，威德瑙，瑞士）和 Domotherm TH1（Uebe Medical GmbH，沃尔特海姆，德国）。温度计插入直肠的深度为一定深度（GLA M750 和 MTI8101=11.5cm；MT1831=8.4cm；Domotherm TH1=7.7cm），当温度计发出视觉或听觉信号时测量结束。测量结果可能会受到以下因素的影响：操作程序（最高可达 0.5 摄氏度）、温度计类型（最高可达 0.3 摄氏度）和直肠插入深度（在一个实验中，11.5cm 或 6.0cm）（在一个实验中，11.5cm 与 6.0cm 的插入深度相差 0.4 摄氏度）。排便前后直肠温度的差异较小（<0.1 摄氏度）。这些结果表明，在普遍应用直肠体温测量时需要谨慎。
