ABSTRACT
The objective of this article is to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of a
Penguin electronic thermometer compared with a mercury-in-glass thermometer for rectal
thermometry in newborns. The mercury-in-glass thermometer is considered the ``gold-standard''
for rectal thermometry. Unfortunately, accurate measurement with a mercury-in-glass
thermometer requires at least 4 minutes. Rectal temperature was obtained in 224 term
and near-term infants using a mercury-in-glass and a Penguin thermometers. Paired
t-test was used to test the difference between the means, and F-test was used to test the difference between the variances of the two instruments.
One hundred and sixty-one of the temperature measurements (72%) taken with the Penguin
thermometer were within ±0.2°C and 208 (93%) within ±0.5°C from the measurements made
with the mercury-in-glass thermometer. The differences in means and in variances were
not significantly different between the instruments. The Penguin thermometer is an
accurate and reproducible tool for measuring rectal temperature in term and near-term
infants compared with the mercury-in-glass thermometer.
KEYWORD
Thermometry - newborn - accurate - reproducible
