Comparison of body temperature values measured with noncontact forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometer in adult ındividuals

Comparison of Body Temperature Values Measured with Noncontact Forehead Thermometer and Tympanic Thermometer in Adult Individuals Aim: The aim of the study is compared of body temperature values measured with noncontact forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometer in adult individuals. Material and Methods: Individuals above 18 years old applied to Erzurum District Training and Research Hospital between January 2015 and March 2015 have composed the research population. 200 adult individuals having criterias of the research having admitted to participate in the research have also composed the sample of research. The data were collected with using patient information form, patient observation form, a tympanic thermometer (Nimomed, Model FT- F11), a noncontact forehead thermometer (Nimomed, Model HT- F03B), and an electronic thermo-hygrometer thermometer (Nimomed, Model SH 101). During the data collection process, the body temperature of the same patient was measured with both a noncontact forehead thermometer and a tympanic thermometer at the same time by the same researcher. In addition, before the implementation, environment temperature and environment humidity were measured with an electronic thermo-hygrometer thermometer. Data were analyzed in a computerized environment by Bland- Altman analysis with MedCalc 16.8.4 statistical software and SPSS 18.0 statistical program pack. Evaluation of the data; addicted samples t- test, kruskal wallis, descriptive statistical methods (Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard Deviation) and Bland- Altman analysis were used. Results. Mean body temperature values measured with a noncontact forehead thermometer and a tympanic thermometer were 36.17± 0.47 and 36.89± 0.44 respectively. The average difference between the mean of forehead and tympanic temperatures was determined -0.72 oC. There were found out significant differences in mean temperature measurements between non-contact forehead thermometer and tympanic thermometers (p< 0.0001). In addition It was found out that there weren't clear relation between differences and averages. It was determined that there were conformity between two methods. The agreement limits for these thermometers were determined between -1.75 oC and 0.30 oC. Conclusion. The mean forehead temperature is lower than the tympanic temperature. Non-contact forehead thermometer may be used as an alternative to tympanic thermometer when assessing body temperature in adult individuals in hospital, but it must be used with caution because of a high value of bias. Key Words: Nursing, Thermometer,Body Temperature