Objectives: The purpose of this study is to find diagnostic points and define the cut off values of hot flashes by using digital infrared thermographic imaging. Methods: Thermographic images of 75 patients with hot flashes (HF, n=35) and non-hot flashes (NHF, n=40) were retrospectively reviewed. We used the temperature difference between Ex-HN3 and CV17, LU4, CV12, CV4 for diagnosing hot flashes. The temperature differences of between two groups were analysed using independent samples t-tests.

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... he cut off values were calculated by received operating characteristic curve analysis. Analyses were undertaken using SPSS version 17.0. and p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The temperature difference Ex-HN3 and LU4 were the most significantly different between groups (p<0.001). Using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve were 65.7%, 72.5%, 0.729, respectively. The optimum cut off value was defined as 1.00℃. Conclusions: These results suggest that the digital infrared thermographic imaging is a reliable instrument for estimating hot flashes.