Temperature measurement accuracy of peripheral thermometer in the pediatric emergency department: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

BACKGROUND: It is necessary to evaluate the accuracy of peripheral thermometer in outpatient and emergency temperature measurement of children by diagnostic meta-analysis, to provide evidence for clinical temperature measurement and nursing care of children.

METHODS: Two authors searched PubMed, Web of science, CINAHL, EBSCO, OVID, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang and Weipu databases for studies on the temperature measurement accuracy of peripheral thermometer in children in outpatient and emergency department until November 20, 2023.

RESULTS: 10 studies involving 3448 children were included. The combined sensitivity was 82 % (95 % CI: 81 % ∼ 84 %), the combined specificity was 88 % (95 % CI: 87 % ∼ 89 %), the combined positive likelihood ratio was 11. 35 (95 % CI: 6. 07 ∼ 21). 20), the combined negative likelihood ratio was 0.20 (95 % CI: 0.14 ∼ 0.29). The odds ratio of combined diagnosis was 58.02 (95 % CI: 30.66 ∼ 109.76), and the area under ROC curve (AUC) was 0.95.

CONCLUSIONS: The peripheral temperature measurement can reflect a certain core temperature, among which the infrared tympanic membrane thermometer has the highest sensitivity, which is worthy of clinical application.