ThermoSpot Accuracy and Maternal Recognition Clinical Trial
Official title:
Evaluation of Thermospot Accuracy in Nigerian Infants Exposed to Ambient Temperature and Validation of Maternal Readings and Responses
This project will focus on testing the accuracy of ThermoSpot -a low-cost, color-based,
temperature indicator in estimating the body temperature of Nigerian babies exposed to
ambient temperature conditions. The particpants will be recruited among babies receiving
Filtered Sunlight Phototherapy (FSPT) at Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso and
other babies in the nursery at Bowen University Teaching Hospital.
There will also be an educational session to teach health workers and mothers about the signs
for hypothermia and hyperthermia on the indicator. Then, the investigators will collect
observational cross-sectional data on random days to see how many of the trained health
workers and mothers were able to accurately recognize and provide appropriate response to
warning signs on the indicator.
ThermoSpot is a liquid crystal display thermometer. It comes as a sticky disc (12mm in
diameter) which can be applied to the skin over the liver, in the armpit, or over the neck
blood vessels of an infant. ThermoSpot was designed as a non-invasive hypothermia indicator
for infants. The device changes color when the baby's core body temperature changes, allowing
it to be understood even by a non-literate parent. It has been tested and proven to
accurately detect hypothermia in Malawi, Nepal and India. However, no large-scale studies
have been performed on babies exposed to ambient temperatures for long periods such as those
under FSPT.
The main objective of the project is to determine whether ThermoSpot can be used to detect
hypothermia or hyperthermia in babies receiving FSPT instead of thermometers. The ability of
a parent to respond in a timely manner to the temperature indicator will help provide
critical information on technical, as well as educational components required for FSPT
scale-up in Nigeria and other resource-limited countries with health worker shortage.
Specific objectives
1. Compare the performance of ThermoSpot in the detection of hypothermia or hyperthermia
with the standard axillary thermometer measurement.
2. Determine if parents are able to correctly interpret the color indicators on ThermoSpot
3. Determine whether parents carry out the appropriate action based on the ThermoSpot
indicator.
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