Sixty randomly selected pediatric patients who were admitted to our hospital were enrolled. Simultaneous temperature axillary measurements (n: 1300) were performed with the chemical thermometer and mercury-in-glass instruments. The mean results of the axillary mercury–in-glass thermometers and axillary chemical thermometer were 36.8 ± 0.6 and 37.2 ± 0.7, respectively. The Bland- Altman plot of differences suggests that 95% of the chemical thermometer (Tempa.DOT TM) readings were within limits of agreement (+0.37 and –1.24°C) when mercury-in-glass thermometer is considered as the standard.
Our results showed that limits of agreement were wide (+0.37 and –1.24°C) between readings of axillary mercury–in-glass thermometers and chemical thermometers. Since approximately 20% of febrile patients with mercuryin- glass temperature were misdiagnosed as afebrile with measurements via chemical thermometer, we suggest that the axilla is not a suitable anatomic site for screening of fever with Tempa.DOT TM. Further studies involving larger study groups with similar age should be done to more definitely assess its screening value in pediatrics.
Keywords : body temperature measurement, axilla, mercury-in-glass, chemical thermometer.