What is the Difference Between the Different Types of Thermometers?

Objective: There is no widely accepted method that can reflect the core temperature exactly. The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy of frequently used body temperature measurement methods. Materials and Methods: A total of 104 patients aged 3-9 years were included in this cross-sectional study. The body temperature was measured using a non-contact cutaneous thermometer (NCCT), tympanic thermometer (TT), temporal artery thermometer (TAT), and electronic oral thermometer. Four consecutive measurements each with a different technique were taken from each patient. The oral thermometer was accepted as the reference body temperature measurement method and an oral body temperature measurement of ≥37.8°C was accepted as fever. Results: The NCCT and TT provided lower body temperature results than the oral measurement, while the TAT measured body temperatures higher than the oral thermometer. In patients whose temperature was measured as <37.8°C orally, the oral and TT measurements showed a strong positive association, while the other methods showed a weak positive association with the oral thermometer. In patients with fever, the oral and TT, and the oral and NCCT had a strong positive association while the oral thermometer and TAT had a moderate positive association. The result provided by the ROC analysis that was performed to determine the fever cut-off value for NCCT was 37.4°C, 37.7°C for TT, and 38°C for TAT. Conclusion: None of the peripheral measurement methods can accurately measure the core temperature. However, the results can be interpreted more accurately if the characteristics of the thermometers are well known.