Reliability and Accuracy of Infrared Temperature: A Systematic Review

Seong-Hi Park

doi:10.7475/kjan.2014.26.6.668

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Park: Reliability and Accuracy of Infrared Temperature: A Systematic Review

Original Article

Korean Journal of Adult Nursing 2014; 26(6): 668-680.

Published online: 31 December 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2014.26.6.668

Reliability and Accuracy of Infrared Temperature: A Systematic Review

Seong-Hi Park

School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, Daejeon, Korea.

Corresponding author: Park, Seong-Hi. School of Nursing Science, Pai Chai University, 155-40 Baejae-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-735, Korea. Tel: +82-42-520-5104, Fax: +82-70-4362-6291, shpark@pcu.ac.kr

Received 20 August 2014 Revised 30 November 2014 Accepted 1 December 2014

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy of infrared temperature measurements compared to axillary temperature in order to detect fever in patients.

Methods

Studies published between 1946 and 2012 from periodicals indexed in Ovid Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, KoreaMed, NDSL, KERIS and other databases were selected using the following key words: “infrared thermometer.” QUADAS-II was utilized to assess the internal validity of the diagnostic studies. Selected studies were analyzed through a meta-analysis using MetaDisc 1.4.

Results

Twenty-one diagnostic studies with high methodological quality were included representing 3,623 subjects in total. Results of the meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of infrared tympanic thermometers were 0.73 (95% CI 0.70~0.75), 0.92 (95% CI 0.91~0.92), and 0.90, respectively. For axillary temperature readings, the pooled sensitivity was 0.67 (95% CI 0.62~0.73), the pooled specificity was 0.87 (95% CI 0.85~0.90), and the AUC was 0.80.

Conclusion

Infrared tympanic temperature can predict axillary temperature in normothermic and in febrile patients with an acceptable level of diagnostic accuracy. However, further research is necessary to substantiate this finding in patients with hyperthermia.

Keywords: Thermometers, Fever, Sensitivity and specificity, Meta-analysis

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Flow diagram of article selection.

Figure 2

Diagnostic test accuracy of Infrared tympanic temperature.

Figure 3

Diagnostic test accuracy of axillary temperature.

Table 1

Characteristics of the Selected Studies

TP=True positive; FP=False positive; FN=False negative; TN=True negative; SN=Sensitivity; SP=Specificity; PLR=Positive likelihood ratio; NLR=Negative likelihood ratio; DOR=Diagnosis odds ratio; ITT=Infrared tympanic thermometer; A=Axillary thermometer; ^†Year of publication.

Table 2

Summary Results of Meta-analysis

PLR=positive likelihood ratio; NLR=negative likelihood ratio; DOR=diagnosis odds ratio; AUC=area under the curve; SE=standard error.

Notes

This study was supported by grant No. 2013A0003 from the Pai Chai University Research Fund of Korea in 2013.

Appendix

APPENDIX

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