Abstract: Objective To compare the difference and consistency between the temperature measured by ear thermometer, non-contact infrared thermometer and oral temperature measured by mercury thermometer, and to find a temperature measurement method to replace mercury thermometer. Methods A total of 720 orthopedic inpatients from March to May 2021 were selected by convenience sampling. Tympanic temperature was measured with an ear thermometer. Forehead, behind the ear and Neiguan temperature were measured with a non-contact infrared thermometer, and oral temperature was measured with a mercury thermometer as standard reference. Paired t test and Bland-Altman analysis were used to compare the differences and consistency between the temperature measured by these four temperature measurement methods and oral temperature. Results Among the four temperature measurement methods, only the difference between retroauricular temperature and oral temperature was statistically significant (P<0.001). The 95% limit of agreement between tympanic temperature and oral temperature was the narrowest (-0.605, 0.601), and the data points outside the 95% consistency limit accounted for 3.06%, which were better than those measured by other temperature measurement methods. Conclusion The consistency between tympanic temperature measured by ear thermometer and oral temperature measured by mercury thermometer is relatively good. Mercury thermometer can be replaced by ear thermometer after it is discontinued.

Key words: body temperature, mouth temperature, tympanic membrane temperature, ear thermometer, mercury thermometer, Bland-Altman