Abstract
BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of IRET has been called into question. However, there are a number of factors that might affect ear temperature measurement. Some of these are the focus of this study.
METHOD: 366 asymptomatic subjects (0.75 to 53 years old) volunteered to take part in this ethically approved study. The data were analysed in respect to handedness, sex and age.
RESULTS: Two-way ANOVAs showed significant interactions between age group and sex (first ear measured, p = 0.017; second p = 0.298), and between handedness and sex (first ear measured, p = 0.011; second p = 0.040) in relation to their ear temperature. Ear temperatures of males tended to be lower than females, however this only found significance in the 'Early Puberty' age group (p < 0.001).
DISCUSSION: Significant differences in ear temperature were seen for handedness, sex and age.
CONCLUSION: We have shown that handedness, sex and age might be contributory factors to ear temperature differences in the population.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 235-41 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Medical Engineering and Technology |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Jul 2006 |
Keywords
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Age Distribution
- Body Temperature
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Ear Canal
- Female
- Functional Laterality
- Great Britain
- Humans
- Infant
- Infant, Newborn
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Reproducibility of Results
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- Sex Distribution
- Spectrophotometry, Infrared
- Thermography
- Tympanic Membrane
- Clinical Trial
- Journal Article