The ITDS proved to be an effective screening tool for identifying patients with fever (>100.0-F) across all age ranges and genders. While the ITDS had a high negative predictive value-correctly excluding most patients without fever-the machine also generated a high percentage of false positive results, measuring higher temperatures than routine temperature measurements. According to the study, if fever was not detected by the ITDS, then there was a 97% chance that there was no fever present, making the ITDS a useful tool for quick fever screenings.

Dr. Hewlett cautioned that their study used mostly oral temperature measurements as the standard to measure the effectiveness of the ITDS. Oral measurements are not always an accurate measure of temperature, but represent the most widely used measurement of temperature in clinical settings. Further evaluation of the performance and utility of the device is needed.

"In this age of globalism, where infectious diseases can rapidly impact worldwide populations, technology such as this can be beneficial to help healthcare professionals quickly screen large numbers of patients with speed and accuracy and implement relevant measures to prevent further disease transmission," said Cathryn Murphy, RN, PhD, CIC, APIC's 2010 President.

OptoTherm, the maker of the ThermoScreen, loaned the machine to UNMC for the study period. Dr. Hewlett and colleagues did not receive outside funding for this study.

Source: Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America