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In a study of 987 emergency department (ED) patients (mean age 55 years, 65% female) who received a rectal temperature measurement as part of routine care, researchers assessed the accuracy of oral, tympanic membrane, and temporal artery thermometry.
Overall, the noninvasive temperature readings were inaccurate; they differed by ≥0.5°C from rectal temperatures 36% of the time and from oral temperatures 50% of the time. The most accurate noninvasive method was tympanic membrane thermometry.
The sensitivity and specificity for detecting fever of 38°C or higher measured rectally were as follows:
Tympanic membrane: 68% and 98%
Temporal artery: 71% and 92%
Oral: 37% and 99%
When the cutoff temperature for defining fever was lowered to 37.5°C, the sens…