Comparison of oral and tympanic temperatures in a veterans administration outpatient clinic

Background: To examine the accuracy of noncontact tympanic (NCT) temperatur es in outpatients, we conducted a prospective study comparing NCT temperatu re with temperatures obtained by oral mercury thermometers. Methods: The study included 410 patients in whom oral and NCT temperatures were obtained. Results: Mean oral temperature was 36.47 +/- 0.44 degrees C and mean NCT te mperature was 36.36 +/- 0.49 degrees C, On paired-sample, two-sided t-testi ng, oral temperature differed significantly from NCT temperature, with a P- value < 0.0001. The difference between simultaneous oral and NCT temperatur es was greater than or equal to 1 degrees F; in 63 cases, oral temperature was higher than NCT temperature. Conclusions: We conclude that NCT temperature measurement is not reliable i n an internal medicine outpatient clinic setting.