Performance of a non-contact infrared thermometer in healthy newborns.

objectiveTo evaluate the performance of a non-contact infrared thermometer (NCIT) in comparison with digital axillary thermometer (DAT) and infrared tympanic thermometers (ITT) in a population of healthy at term and preterm newborns nursed in incubators.

setting1 level III maternity hospital, and its intensive neonatal care unit.

participants119 healthy at term newborns and 70 preterm newborns nursed in incubators were consecutively enrolled. Exclusion criteria were unstable/critical conditions, polymalformative congenital syndromes and severe congenital syndromes.

interventionsBody temperature readings were prospectively collected. Each participant underwent bilateral axillary temperature measurement with DAT, bilateral tympanic measurement with ITT and mid-forehead temperature measurements using NCIT. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Degree of agreement between methods was evaluated by the Bland and Altman method.

results714 measurements in 119 healthy at term newborns and 420 measurements in 70 preterm newborns nursed in incubators were performed. Clinical reproducibility of NCIT was 0.0455 °C for infants in incubators and 0.0861 °C for infants outside an incubator. Bias was 0.029 °C for infants in incubators and <0.0001 °C for infants outside an incubator. Zero outliers were recorded. The mean difference between methods was good both for newborns at term (0.12 °C for NCIT vs DAT and 0.02 °C for NCIT vs ITT) and preterm newborns in incubators (0.10 °C for NCIT vs DAT and 0.14 °C for NCIT vs ITT). Limits of agreement were 0.99 to -0.75 and 0.78 to -0.75 in at term newborns and were particularly satisfactory in preterm newborns in incubators (95% CI: 0.48 to -0.27 and 0.68 to -0.40).

conclusionsOur results with Bland and Altman analysis demonstrate that NCIT is a very promising tool, especially in preterm newborns nursed in incubators.

trial registrationThe study was approved by the Careggi University Hospital Ethics Committee (07/2011).