Using Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring to Detect Early Deterioration in Adult Postoperative Inpatients

Time to detection of serious adverse events by continuous vital sign monitoring versus clinical practice

BACKGROUND

Continuous vital sign monitoring detects far more severe vital sign deviations (SVDs) than intermittent clinical rounds, and deviations are to some extent related to subsequent serious adverse events (SAEs). Early detection of SAEs is pivotal to allow for effective interventions but the time relationship between detection of SAEs by continuous vital sign monitoring versus clinical practice is not well-described at the general ward.

AIM

To quantify the time difference between detection of SAEs by continuous vital sign monitoring and clinical suspicion of deterioration (CSD) in major abdominal surgery patients.

METHODS

Five hundred and five patients had their vital signs continuously monitored in combination with usual clinical practice consisting of National Early Warning Score assessments at least every 8'th hour, assessments during rounds, and other kinds of staff-patient interactions. The primary outcome was the time difference between the first chart note of CSD versus the first SVD, detected by continuous vital sign monitoring, in patients with a subsequent confirmed SAE during or up to 48 h after end of continuous vital sign monitoring.

RESULTS

Out of the 505 continuously monitored patients, 142 patients had a combination of both postoperative SAE, CSD and SVD, and thus were included in the primary analysis. The median time from the first SVD to SAE was 42.8 h (interquartile range 19.8-72.1 h) compared to 13 minutes (interquartile range - 4.8 to 3.5 h) for CSD with a median difference of 48.1 h (95% confidence interval 43.0-54.8 h), p-value < .001.

CONCLUSION

Continuous vital sign monitoring detects signs of oncoming SAEs in the form of SVD hours before CSD, potentially allowing for earlier and more effective treatments to reduce the extent of SAEs.

Discrepancies between Promised and Actual AI Capabilities in the Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring of In-Hospital Patients: A Review of the Current Evidence

Continuous vital sign monitoring (CVSM) with wireless sensors in general hospital wards can enhance patient care. An artificial intelligence (AI) layer is crucial to allow sensor data to be managed by clinical staff without over alerting from the sensors. With the aim of summarizing peer-reviewed evidence for AI support in CVSM sensors, we searched PubMed and Embase for studies on adult patients monitored with CVSM sensors in general wards. Peer-reviewed evidence and white papers on the official websites of CVSM solutions were also included. AI classification was based on standard definitions of simple AI, as systems with no memory or learning capabilities, and advanced AI, as systems with the ability to learn from past data to make decisions. Only studies evaluating CVSM algorithms for improving or predicting clinical outcomes (e.g., adverse events, intensive care unit admission, mortality) or optimizing alarm thresholds were included. We assessed the promised level of AI for each CVSM solution based on statements from the official product websites. In total, 467 studies were assessed; 113 were retrieved for full-text review, and 26 studies on four different CVSM solutions were included. Advanced AI levels were indicated on the websites of all four CVSM solutions. Five studies assessed algorithms with potential for applications as advanced AI algorithms in two of the CVSM solutions (50%), while 21 studies assessed algorithms with potential as simple AI in all four CVSM solutions (100%). Evidence on algorithms for advanced AI in CVSM is limited, revealing a discrepancy between promised AI levels and current algorithm capabilities.

Enhancing discharge decision-making through continuous monitoring in an acute admission ward: a randomized controlled trial

In Acute Admission Wards, vital signs are commonly measured only intermittently. This may result in failure to detect early signs of patient deterioration and impede timely identification of patient stability, ultimately leading to prolonged stays and avoidable hospital admissions. Therefore, continuous vital sign monitoring may improve hospital efficacy. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of continuous monitoring on the proportion of patients safely discharged home directly from an Acute Admission Ward. Patients were randomized to either the control group, which received usual care, or the sensor group, which additionally received continuous monitoring using a wearable sensor. The continuous measurements could be considered in discharge decision-making by physicians during the daily bedside rounds. Safe discharge was defined as no unplanned readmissions, emergency department revisits or deaths, within 30 days after discharge. Additionally, length of stay, the number of Intensive Care Unit admissions and Rapid Response Team calls were assessed. In total, 400 patients were randomized, of which 394 completed follow-up, with 196 assigned to the sensor group and 198 to the control group. The proportion of patients safely discharged home was 33.2% in the sensor group and 30.8% in the control group (p = 0.62). No significant differences were observed in secondary outcomes. The trial was terminated prematurely due to futility. In conclusion, continuous monitoring did not have an effect on the proportion of patients safely discharged from an Acute Admission Ward. Implementation challenges of continuous monitoring may have contributed to the lack of effect observed. Trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05181111 . Registered: January 6, 2022.

Society of Critical Care Medicine Guidelines on Recognizing and Responding to Clinical Deterioration Outside the ICU: 2023

RATIONALE

Clinical deterioration of patients hospitalized outside the ICU is a source of potentially reversible morbidity and mortality. To address this, some acute care hospitals have implemented systems aimed at detecting and responding to such patients.

OBJECTIVES

To provide evidence-based recommendations for hospital clinicians and administrators to optimize recognition and response to clinical deterioration in non-ICU patients.

PANEL DESIGN

The 25-member panel included representatives from medicine, nursing, respiratory therapy, pharmacy, patient/family partners, and clinician-methodologists with expertise in developing evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines.

METHODS

We generated actionable questions using the Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes (PICO) format and performed a systematic review of the literature to identify and synthesize the best available evidence. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation Approach to determine certainty in the evidence and to formulate recommendations and good practice statements (GPSs).

RESULTS

The panel issued 10 statements on recognizing and responding to non-ICU patients with critical illness. Healthcare personnel and institutions should ensure that all vital sign acquisition is timely and accurate (GPS). We make no recommendation on the use of continuous vital sign monitoring among unselected patients. We suggest focused education for bedside clinicians in signs of clinical deterioration, and we also suggest that patient/family/care partners' concerns be included in decisions to obtain additional opinions and help (both conditional recommendations). We recommend hospital-wide deployment of a rapid response team or medical emergency team (RRT/MET) with explicit activation criteria (strong recommendation). We make no recommendation about RRT/MET professional composition or inclusion of palliative care members on the responding team but suggest that the skill set of responders should include eliciting patients' goals of care (conditional recommendation). Finally, quality improvement processes should be part of a rapid response system.

CONCLUSIONS

The panel provided guidance to inform clinicians and administrators on effective processes to improve the care of patients at-risk for developing critical illness outside the ICU.

Three Years of Continuous Vital Signs Monitoring on the General Surgical Ward: Is It Sustainable? A Qualitative Study

Continuous monitoring of vital signs using a wireless wearable device was implemented in 2018 at a surgical care unit of an academic hospital. This study aimed at gaining insight into nurses' and patients' perspectives regarding the use and innovation of a continuous vital signs monitoring system, three years after its introduction. This qualitative study was performed in a surgical, non-intensive care unit of an academic hospital in 2021. Key-user nurses (nurses with additional training and expertise with the device) and patients were selected for semi-structured interviews, and nurses from the ward were selected for a focus group interview using a topic list. Transcripts of the audio tapes were deductively analysed using four dimensions for adoptions of information and communication technologies (ICT) devices in healthcare. The device provided feelings of safety for nurses and patients. Nurses and patients had a few issues with the device, including the size and the battery life. Nurses gained knowledge and skills in using the system for measurement and interpretations. They perceived the system as a tool to improve the recognition of clinical decline. The use of the system could be further developed regarding the technical device's characteristics, nurses' interpretation of the data and the of type of alarms, the information needs of patients, and clarification of the definition and standardization of continuous monitoring. Three years after the introduction, wireless continuous vital signs monitoring is the new standard of care according to the end-users at the general surgical ward.

Surveillance of high-risk early postsurgical patients for real-time detection of complications using wireless monitoring (SHEPHERD study): results of a randomized multicenter stepped wedge cluster trial

Background

Vital signs measurements on the ward are performed intermittently. This could lead to failure to rapidly detect patients with deteriorating vital signs and worsens long-term outcome. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that continuous wireless monitoring of vital signs on the postsurgical ward improves patient outcome.

Methods

In this prospective, multicenter, stepped-wedge cluster randomized study, patients in the control group received standard monitoring. The intervention group received continuous wireless monitoring of heart rate, respiratory rate and temperature on top of standard care. Automated alerts indicating vital signs deviation from baseline were sent to ward nurses, triggering the calculation of a full early warning score followed. The primary outcome was the occurrence of new disability three months after surgery.

Results

The study was terminated early (at 57% inclusion) due to COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, only descriptive statistics are presented. A total of 747 patients were enrolled in this study and eligible for statistical analyses, 517 patients in the control group and 230 patients in the intervention group, the latter only from one hospital. New disability at three months after surgery occurred in 43.7% in the control group and in 39.1% in the intervention group (absolute difference 4.6%).

Conclusion

This is the largest randomized controlled trial investigating continuous wireless monitoring in postoperative patients. While patients in the intervention group seemed to experience less (new) disability than patients in the control group, results remain inconclusive with regard to postoperative patient outcome due to premature study termination.

Clinical trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02957825.

Association between game metrics in a simulation game and nursing students' surgical nursing knowledge - a quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND

Simulation games are effective for acquiring surgical nursing knowledge during education by offering possibilities to learn theoretical knowledge through practical patient scenarios, thus preparing students for demanding surgical nursing care. Game metrics stored in the game system enable assessment of students' behaviour while gameplaying. Combining game metrics with the assessment of a student's surgical nursing knowledge allows versatile information to be obtained about the student's learning outcomes. However, studies on game metrics stored in systems and their relationship with learning outcomes are scarce.

METHODS

The aim here was to evaluate the association between game metrics in a simulation game and nursing students' surgical nursing knowledge. Nursing students from three universities of applied sciences in Finland participated in a one-week simulation gameplaying intervention that included five surgical nursing scenarios. Students' surgical nursing knowledge was investigated with a quasi-experimental, one-group, pre- and post-test design using a surgical nursing knowledge test. In total, 280 students filled in the knowledge tests. In addition, cross-sectional game data were collected at a single time point between pre- and post-tests. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis methods.

RESULTS

Students' surgical nursing knowledge improved with the intervention. The total number of playthroughs was 3562. The mean maximum score was 126.2 (maximum score range 76-195). The mean playing time of all playthroughs by all players was 4.3 minutes (SD = 81.61). A statistically significant association was found between mean score and knowledge test total score (p < 0.0072), but no significant association emerged between mean playing time and knowledge test total score.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that the higher the mean score the better the students' surgical nursing knowledge in the knowledge test. This study did not show that the time spent playing had an impact on students' post-playing knowledge. Our findings support the idea that game metrics can be used in performance evaluation and the results can be used to improve nursing students' readiness for challenging preoperative and postoperative clinical situations.

Initiatives to detect and prevent death from perioperative deterioration

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This study indicates that there are differences between hospitals in detection, as well as in adequate management of postsurgical complications, a phenomenon that is described as 'failure-to-rescue'.In this review, recent initiatives to reduce failure-to-rescue in the perioperative period are described.

RECENT FINDINGS

Use of cognitive aids, emergency manuals, family participation as well as remote monitoring systems are measures to reduce failure-to-rescue situations. Postoperative visit of an anaesthesiologist on the ward was not shown to improve outcome, but there is still room for improvement of postoperative care.

SUMMARY

Improving the complete emergency chain, including monitoring, recognition and response in the afferent limb, as well as diagnostic and treatment in the efferent limb, should lead to reduced failure-to-rescue situations in the perioperative period.

Reply to Farahani, P.; Wahid, L. Comment on "Viderman et al. Remote Monitoring of Chronic Critically Ill Patients after Hospital Discharge: A Systematic Review. J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11, 1010"

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Process Evaluation of a Wireless Wearable Continuous Vital Signs Monitoring Intervention in 2 General Hospital Wards: Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND

Continuous monitoring of vital signs (CMVS) using wearable wireless sensors is increasingly available to patients in general wards and can improve outcomes and reduce nurse workload. To assess the potential impact of such systems, successful implementation is important. We developed a CMVS intervention and implementation strategy and evaluated its success in 2 general wards.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to assess and compare intervention fidelity in 2 wards (internal medicine and general surgery) of a large teaching hospital.

METHODS

A mixed methods sequential explanatory design was used. After thorough training and preparation, CMVS was implemented-in parallel with the standard intermittent manual measurements-and executed for 6 months in each ward. Heart rate and respiratory rate were measured using a chest-worn wearable sensor, and vital sign trends were visualized on a digital platform. Trends were routinely assessed and reported each nursing shift without automated alarms. The primary outcome was intervention fidelity, defined as the proportion of written reports and related nurse activities in case of deviating trends comparing early (months 1-2), mid- (months 3-4), and late (months 5-6) implementation periods. Explanatory interviews with nurses were conducted.

RESULTS

The implementation strategy was executed as planned. A total of 358 patients were included, resulting in 45,113 monitored hours during 6142 nurse shifts. In total, 10.3% (37/358) of the sensors were replaced prematurely because of technical failure. Mean intervention fidelity was 70.7% (SD 20.4%) and higher in the surgical ward (73.6%, SD 18.1% vs 64.1%, SD 23.7%; P<.001). Fidelity decreased over the implementation period in the internal medicine ward (76%, 57%, and 48% at early, mid-, and late implementation, respectively; P<.001) but not significantly in the surgical ward (76% at early implementation vs 74% at midimplementation [P=.56] vs 70.7% at late implementation [P=.07]). No nursing activities were needed based on vital sign trends for 68.7% (246/358) of the patients. In 174 reports of 31.3% (112/358) of the patients, observed deviating trends led to 101 additional bedside assessments of patients and 73 consultations by physicians. The main themes that emerged during interviews (n=21) included the relative priority of CMVS in nurse work, the importance of nursing assessment, the relatively limited perceived benefits for patient care, and experienced mediocre usability of the technology.

CONCLUSIONS

We successfully implemented a system for CMVS at scale in 2 hospital wards, but our results show that intervention fidelity decreased over time, more in the internal medicine ward than in the surgical ward. This decrease appeared to depend on multiple ward-specific factors. Nurses' perceptions regarding the value and benefits of the intervention varied. Implications for optimal implementation of CMVS include engaging nurses early, seamless integration into electronic health records, and sophisticated decision support tools for vital sign trend interpretation.

Continuous vital sign monitoring in patients after elective abdominal surgery: a retrospective study on clinical outcomes and costs

Aim: To assess changes in outcomes and costs upon implementation of continuous vital sign monitoring in postsurgical patients. Materials & methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes and in-hospital costs compared with a control period. Results: During the intervention period patients were less frequently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) (p = 0.004), had shorter length of stay (p < 0.001) and lower costs (p < 0.001). The intervention was associated with a lower odds of ICU admission (odds ratio: 0.422; p = 0.007) and ICU related costs (odds ratio: -662.4; p = 0.083). Conclusion: Continuous vital sign monitoring may have contributed to fewer ICU admissions and lower ICU costs in postsurgical patients.

Assessment of Remote Vital Sign Monitoring and Alarms in a Real-World Healthcare at Home Dataset

The importance of vital sign monitoring to detect deterioration increases during healthcare at home. Continuous monitoring with wearables increases assessment frequency but may create information overload for clinicians. The goal of this work was to demonstrate the impact of vital sign observation frequency and alarm settings on alarms in a real-world dataset. Vital signs were collected from 76 patients admitted to healthcare at home programs using the Current Health (CH) platform; its wearable continuously measured respiratory rate (RR), pulse rate (PR), and oxygen saturation (SpO₂). Total alarms, alarm rate, patient rate, and detection time were calculated for three alarm rulesets to detect changes in SpO₂, PR, and RR under four vital sign observation frequencies and four window sizes for the alarm algorithms' median filter. Total alarms ranged from 65 to 3113. The alarm rate and early detection increased with the observation frequency for all alarm rulesets. Median filter windows reduced alarms triggered by normal fluctuations in vital signs without compromising the granularity of time between assessments. Frequent assessments enabled with continuous monitoring support early intervention but need to pair with settings that balance sensitivity, specificity, clinical risk, and provider capacity to respond when a patient is home to minimize clinician burden.

Understanding the “alarm problem” associated with continuous physiologic monitoring of general care patients

Study Aim

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Upcoming and urgent challenges in critical care research based on COVID-19 pandemic experience

While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed a heavy burden on healthcare systems worldwide, it also induced urgent mobilisation of research teams to develop treatments preventing or curing the disease and its consequences. It has, therefore, challenged critical care research to rapidly focus on specific fields while forcing critical care physicians to make difficult ethical decisions. This narrative review aims to summarise critical care research -from organisation to research fields- in this pandemic setting and to highlight opportunities to improve research efficiency in the future, based on what is learned from COVID-19. This pressure on research revealed, i.e., i/ the need to harmonise regulatory processes between countries, allowing simplified organisation of international research networks to improve their efficiency in answering large-scale questions; ii/ the importance of developing translational research from which therapeutic innovations can emerge; iii/ the need for improved triage and predictive scores to rationalise admission to the intensive care unit. In this context, key areas for future critical care research and better pandemic preparedness are artificial intelligence applied to healthcare, characterisation of long-term symptoms, and ethical considerations. Such collaborative research efforts should involve groups from both high and low-to-middle income countries to propose worldwide solutions. As a conclusion, stress tests on healthcare organisations should be viewed as opportunities to design new research frameworks and strategies. Worldwide availability of research networks ready to operate is essential to be prepared for next pandemics. Importantly, researchers and physicians should prioritise realistic and ethical goals for both clinical care and research.

Continuous monitoring of vital sign abnormalities; association to clinical complications in 500 postoperative patients

Background

Patients undergoing major surgery are at risk of complications, so‐called serious adverse events (SAE). Continuous monitoring may detect deteriorating patients by recording abnormal vital signs. We aimed to assess the association between abnormal vital signs inspired by Early Warning Score thresholds and subsequent SAEs in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.

Methods

Prospective observational cohort study continuously monitoring heart rate, respiratory rate, peripheral oxygen saturation, and blood pressure for up to 96 h in 500 postoperative patients admitted to the general ward. Exposure variables were vital sign abnormalities, primary outcome was any serious adverse event occurring within 30 postoperative days. The primary analysis investigated the association between exposure variables per 24 h and subsequent serious adverse events.

Results

Serious adverse events occurred in 37% of patients, with 38% occurring during monitoring. Among patients with SAE during monitoring, the median duration of vital sign abnormalities was 272 min (IQR 110–447), compared to 259 min (IQR 153–394) in patients with SAE after monitoring and 261 min (IQR 132–468) in the patients without any SAE (p = .62 for all three group comparisons). Episodes of heart rate ≥110 bpm occurred in 16%, 7.1%, and 3.9% of patients in the time before SAE during monitoring, after monitoring, and without SAE, respectively (p < .002). Patients with SAE after monitoring experienced more episodes of hypotension ≤90 mm Hg/24 h (p = .001).

Conclusion

Overall duration of vital sign abnormalities at current thresholds were not significantly associated with subsequent serious adverse events, but more patients with tachycardia and hypotension had subsequent serious adverse events.

Trial registration

Clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT03491137.

Nurses' experiences with continuous vital sign monitoring on the general surgical ward: a qualitative study based on the Behaviour Change Wheel

Background

To support early recognition of clinical deterioration on a general ward continuous vital signs monitoring (CMVS) systems using wearable devices are increasingly being investigated. Although nurses play a crucial role in successful implementation, reported nurse adoption and acceptance scores vary significantly. In-depth insight into the perspectives of nurses regarding CMVS is lacking. To this end, we applied a theoretical approach for behaviour change derived from the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW).

Aim

To provide insight in the capability, opportunity and motivation of nurses working with CMVS, in order to inform future implementation efforts.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted, including twelve nurses of a surgical ward in a tertiary teaching hospital with previous experience of working with CMVS. Semi-structured interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis. The results were mapped onto the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behaviour (COM-B) model of the BCW.

Results

Five key themes emerged. The theme ‘Learning and coaching on the job’ linked to Capability. Nurses favoured learning about CVSM by dealing with it in daily practice. Receiving bedside guidance and coaching was perceived as important. The theme ‘interpretation of vital sign trends’ also linked to Capability. Nurses mentioned the novelty of monitoring vital sign trends of patients on wards. The theme ‘Management of alarms’ linked to Opportunity. Nurses perceived the (false) alarms generated by the system as excessive resulting in feelings of irritation and uncertainty. The theme ‘Integration and compatibility with clinical workflow’ linked to Opportunity. CVSM was experienced as helpful and easy to use, although integration in mobile devices and the EMR was highly favoured and the management of clinical workflows would need improvement. The theme ‘Added value for nursing care’ linked to Motivation. All nurses recognized the potential added value of CVSM for postoperative care.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest all parts of the COM-B model should be considered when implementing CVSM on general wards. When the themes in Capability and Opportunity are not properly addressed by selecting interventions and policy categories, this may negatively influence the Motivation and may compromise successful implementation.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-022-00837-x.

The Use of Wearable Pulse Oximeters in the Prompt Detection of Hypoxemia and During Movement: Diagnostic Accuracy Study

Background

Commercially available wearable (ambulatory) pulse oximeters have been recommended as a method for managing patients at risk of physiological deterioration, such as active patients with COVID-19 disease receiving care in hospital isolation rooms; however, their reliability in usual hospital settings is not known.

Objective

We report the performance of wearable pulse oximeters in a simulated clinical setting when challenged by motion and low levels of arterial blood oxygen saturation (SaO₂).

Methods

The performance of 1 wrist-worn (Wavelet) and 3 finger-worn (CheckMe O2+, AP-20, and WristOx2 3150) wearable, wireless transmission–mode pulse oximeters was evaluated. For this, 7 motion tasks were performed: at rest, sit-to-stand, tapping, rubbing, drinking, turning pages, and using a tablet. Hypoxia exposure followed, in which inspired gases were adjusted to achieve decreasing SaO₂ levels at 100%, 95%, 90%, 87%, 85%, 83%, and 80%. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂) estimates were compared with simultaneous SaO₂ samples to calculate the root-mean-square error (RMSE). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to analyze the detection of hypoxemia (ie, SaO₂<90%).

Results

SpO₂ estimates matching 215 SaO₂ samples in both study phases, from 33 participants, were analyzed. Tapping, rubbing, turning pages, and using a tablet degraded SpO₂ estimation (RMSE>4% for at least 1 device). All finger-worn pulse oximeters detected hypoxemia, with an overall sensitivity of ≥0.87 and specificity of ≥0.80, comparable to that of the Philips MX450 pulse oximeter.

Conclusions

The SpO₂ accuracy of wearable finger-worn pulse oximeters was within that required by the International Organization for Standardization guidelines. Performance was degraded by motion, but all pulse oximeters could detect hypoxemia. Our findings support the use of wearable, wireless transmission–mode pulse oximeters to detect the onset of clinical deterioration in hospital settings.

Trial Registration

ISRCTN Registry 61535692; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN61535692

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034404

Remote Monitoring of Chronic Critically Ill Patients after Hospital Discharge: A Systematic Review

Background: Over the past few decades, critical care has seen many advancements. These advancements resulted in a considerable increase in the prevalence of chronically critically ill patients requiring prolonged medical care, which led to a massive increase in healthcare utilization. Methods: We performed a search for suitable articles using PubMed and Google Scholar from the inception of these databases to 15 May 2021. Results: Thirty-four articles were included in the review and analyzed. We described the following characteristics and problems with chronic critically ill patient management: the patient population, remote monitoring, the monitoring of physiological parameters in chronic critically ill patients, the anatomical location of sensors, the barriers to implementation, and the main technology-related issues. The main challenges in the management of these patients are (1) the shortage of caretakers, (2) the periodicity of vital function monitoring (e.g., episodic measuring of blood pressure leads to missing important critical events such as hypertension, hypotension, and hypoxia), and (3) failure to catch and manage critical physiological events at the right time, which can result in poor outcomes. Conclusions: The prevalence of critically ill patients is expected to grow. Technical solutions can greatly assist medical personnel and caregivers. Wearable devices can be used to monitor blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, metabolism, and central nervous system function. The most important points that should be addressed in future studies are the performance of the remote monitoring systems, safety, clinical and economic outcomes, as well as the acceptance of the devices by patients, caretakers, and healthcare professionals.

Beyond wellness monitoring: Continuous multiparameter remote automated monitoring of patients

The pursuit of more efficient patient-friendly health systems and reductions in tertiary health services use has seen enormous growth in the application and study of remote patient monitoring systems for cardiovascular patient care. While there are many consumer-grade products available to monitor patient wellness, the regulation of these technologies varies considerably, with most products having little to no evaluation data. As the science and practice of virtual care continues to evolve, clinicians and researchers can benefit from an understanding of more comprehensive solutions, capable of monitoring three or more biophysical parameters (e.g., oxygen saturation, heart rate) continuously and simultaneously. These devices, herein referred to as continuous multiparameter remote automated monitoring (CM-RAM) devices, have the potential to revolutionize virtual patient care. Through seamless integration of multiple biophysical signals, CM-RAM technologies can allow for the acquisition of high-volume big data for the development of algorithms to facilitate early detection of negative changes in patient health status and timely clinician response. In this article, we review key principles, architecture, and components of CM-RAM technologies. Work to date in this field and related implications are also presented, including strategic priorities for advancing the science and practice of CM-RAM.

The impact of wearable continuous vital sign monitoring on deterioration detection and clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Timely recognition of the deteriorating inpatient remains challenging. Wearable monitoring systems (WMS) may augment current monitoring practices. However, there are many barriers to implementation in the hospital environment, and evidence describing the clinical impact of WMS on deterioration detection and patient outcome remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of vital-sign monitoring on detection of deterioration and related clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients using WMS, in comparison with standard care.

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted in August 2020 using MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CENTRAL, Health Technology Assessment databases and grey literature. Studies comparing the use of WMS against standard care for deterioration detection and related clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients were included. Deterioration related outcomes (primary) included unplanned intensive care admissions, rapid response team or cardiac arrest activation, total and major complications rate. Other clinical outcomes (secondary) included in-hospital mortality and hospital length of stay. Exploratory outcomes included alerting system parameters and clinical trial registry information.

RESULTS

Of 8706 citations, 10 studies with different designs met the inclusion criteria, of which 7 were included in the meta-analyses. Overall study quality was moderate. The meta-analysis indicated that the WMS, when compared with standard care, was not associated with significant reductions in intensive care transfers (risk ratio, RR 0.87; 95% confidence interval, CI 0.66-1.15), rapid response or cardiac arrest team activation (RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.69-1.01), total (RR 0.77; 95% CI 0.44-1.32) and major (RR 0.55; 95% CI 0.24-1.30) complications prevalence. There was also no statistically significant association with reduced mortality (RR 0.48; 95% CI 0.18-1.29) and hospital length of stay (mean difference, MD - 0.09; 95% CI - 0.43 to 0.44).

CONCLUSION

This systematic review indicates that there is no current evidence that implementation of WMS impacts early deterioration detection and associated clinical outcomes, as differing design/quality of available studies and diversity of outcome measures make it difficult to reach a definite conclusion. Our narrative findings suggested that alarms should be adjusted to minimise false alarms and promote rapid clinical action in response to deterioration. PROSPERO Registration number: CRD42020188633 .

A Chest Patch for Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring: Clinical Validation Study During Movement and Controlled Hypoxia

BACKGROUND

The standard of care in general wards includes periodic manual measurements, with the data entered into track-and-trigger charts, either on paper or electronically. Wearable devices may support health care staff, improve patient safety, and promote early deterioration detection in the interval between periodic measurements. However, regulatory standards for ambulatory cardiac monitors estimating heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) do not specify performance criteria during patient movement or clinical conditions in which the patient's oxygen saturation varies. Therefore, further validation is required before clinical implementation and deployment of any wearable system that provides continuous vital sign measurements.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to determine the agreement between a chest-worn patch (VitalPatch) and a gold standard reference device for HR and RR measurements during movement and gradual desaturation (modeling a hypoxic episode) in a controlled environment.

METHODS

After the VitalPatch and gold standard devices (Philips MX450) were applied, participants performed different movements in seven consecutive stages: at rest, sit-to-stand, tapping, rubbing, drinking, turning pages, and using a tablet. Hypoxia was then induced, and the participants' oxygen saturation gradually reduced to 80% in a controlled environment. The primary outcome measure was accuracy, defined as the mean absolute error (MAE) of the VitalPatch estimates when compared with HR and RR gold standards (3-lead electrocardiography and capnography, respectively). We defined these as clinically acceptable if the rates were within 5 beats per minute for HR and 3 respirations per minute (rpm) for RR.

RESULTS

Complete data sets were acquired for 29 participants. In the movement phase, the HR estimates were within prespecified limits for all movements. For RR, estimates were also within the acceptable range, with the exception of the sit-to-stand and turning page movements, showing an MAE of 3.05 (95% CI 2.48-3.58) rpm and 3.45 (95% CI 2.71-4.11) rpm, respectively. For the hypoxia phase, both HR and RR estimates were within limits, with an overall MAE of 0.72 (95% CI 0.66-0.78) beats per minute and 1.89 (95% CI 1.75-2.03) rpm, respectively. There were no significant differences in the accuracy of HR and RR estimations between normoxia (≥90%), mild (89.9%-85%), and severe hypoxia (<85%).

CONCLUSIONS

The VitalPatch was highly accurate throughout both the movement and hypoxia phases of the study, except for RR estimation during the two types of movements. This study demonstrated that VitalPatch can be safely tested in clinical environments to support earlier detection of cardiorespiratory deterioration.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN61535692; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN61535692.

Continuous Physiological Monitoring Improves Patient Outcomes

BACKGROUND

General patient acuity is increasing in the United States, with more patients having multiple comorbidities and acute-on-chronic conditions. Hospitalizations may also be complicated by serious adverse events, often unrelated to the admitting medical diagnosis. In our facility, the late detection of patient deterioration on general medical units often resulted in increased length of stay (LOS) in the ICU and poor patient outcomes.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this project was to improve patient surveillance and better identify early signs of patient deterioration through the use of continuous vital sign monitoring technology.

METHODS

To improve detection of patient deterioration, a nurse-led monitoring and response system was developed using a wearable, wireless device for continuous vital sign surveillance. The patient data the device provided was used with early warning scores and sepsis screening protocols for timely goal-directed interventions.

RESULTS

Ninety-seven percent of patient deterioration events were recognized and treated as a result of this continuous monitoring and response system. Rapid response team activations decreased by 53% between baseline and the intervention period. LOS among patients transferred to the ICU decreased from 2.82 to 2.19 days. Nurse satisfaction with use of the continuous monitoring device was positive, with 74% of nurses surveyed reporting that information provided by the device enhanced decision-making.

CONCLUSIONS

New technology for patient surveillance, in this case a nurse-led monitoring and response system, can be successfully integrated into general care practice. Use of the nurse-led response system helped nurses recognize early signs of deterioration and continue meaningful patient interactions.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Calls for Predictive Analytics Monitoring-A New Kind of Illness Scoring System

Coronavirus disease 2019 can lead to sudden and severe respiratory failure that mandates endotracheal intubation, a procedure much more safely performed under elective rather than emergency conditions. Early warning of rising risk of this event could benefit both patients and healthcare providers by reducing the high risk of emergency intubation. Current illness severity scoring systems, which usually update only when clinicians measure vital signs or laboratory values, are poorly suited for early detection of this kind of rapid clinical deterioration. We propose that continuous predictive analytics monitoring, a new approach to bedside management, is more useful. The principles of this new practice anchor in analysis of continuous bedside monitoring data, training models on diagnosis-specific paths of deterioration using clinician-identified events, and continuous display of trends in risks rather than alerts when arbitrary thresholds are exceeded.

Current Evidence for Continuous Vital Signs Monitoring by Wearable Wireless Devices in Hospitalized Adults: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Continuous monitoring of vital signs by using wearable wireless devices may allow for timely detection of clinical deterioration in patients in general wards in comparison to detection by standard intermittent vital signs measurements. A large number of studies on many different wearable devices have been reported in recent years, but a systematic review is not yet available to date.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to provide a systematic review for health care professionals regarding the current evidence about the validation, feasibility, clinical outcomes, and costs of wearable wireless devices for continuous monitoring of vital signs.

METHODS

A systematic and comprehensive search was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from January 2009 to September 2019 for studies that evaluated wearable wireless devices for continuous monitoring of vital signs in adults. Outcomes were structured by validation, feasibility, clinical outcomes, and costs. Risk of bias was determined by using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies 2nd edition, or quality of health economic studies tool.

RESULTS

In this review, 27 studies evaluating 13 different wearable wireless devices were included. These studies predominantly evaluated the validation or the feasibility outcomes of these devices. Only a few studies reported the clinical outcomes with these devices and they did not report a significantly better clinical outcome than the standard tools used for measuring vital signs. Cost outcomes were not reported in any study. The quality of the included studies was predominantly rated as low or moderate.

CONCLUSIONS

Wearable wireless continuous monitoring devices are mostly still in the clinical validation and feasibility testing phases. To date, there are no high quality large well-controlled studies of wearable wireless devices available that show a significant clinical benefit or cost-effectiveness. Such studies are needed to help health care professionals and administrators in their decision making regarding implementation of these devices on a large scale in clinical practice or in-home monitoring.

Clinical impact of multi-parameter continuous non-invasive monitoring in hospital wards: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Delayed response to clinical deterioration as a result of intermittent vital sign monitoring is a cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. This review focuses on the clinical impact of multi-parameter continuous non-invasive monitoring of vital signs (CoNiM) in non-intensive care unit patients.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis of primary studies. Embase, MEDLINE, HMIC, PsycINFO and Cochrane were searched from April 1964 to 18 June 2019 with no language restriction.

SETTING

The search was limited to hospitalised, non-intensive care unit adult patients who had two or more vital signs continuously monitored.

PARTICIPANTS

All primary studies that evaluated the clinical impact of using multi-parameter CoNiM in adult hospital wards outside of the intensive care unit.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Clinical impact of multi-parameter CoNiM.

RESULTS

This systematic review identified 14 relevant studies from 3846 search results. Five studies were classified as Group A - associations found between measured vital signs and clinical parameters. Nine studies were classified as Group B - comparison between clinical outcomes of patients with and without multi-parameter CoNiM. Vital signs data from CoNiM were found to associate with type of presenting complaint, level of renal function and incidence of major clinical events. CoNiM also assisted in diagnosis by differentiating between patients with acute heart failure, stroke and sepsis (with sub-clustering of septic patients). In the meta-analysis, patients on multi-parameter CoNiM had a 39% decrease in risk of mortality (risk ratio [RR] 0.61; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] -0.39-0.95) when compared to patients with regular intermittent monitoring. There was a trend of reduced intensive care unit transfer (RR 0.86; 95% CI -0.67-1.11) and reduced rapid response team activation (RR 0.61; 95% CI 0.26-1.43). A trend towards reduced hospital length of stay was also found using weighted mean difference (WMD -3.32 days; 95% CI -8.82-2.19 days).

CONCLUSION

There is evidence of clinical benefit in implementing CoNiM in non-intensive care unit patients. This review supports the use of multi-parameter CoNiM outside of intensive care unit with further large-scale RCTs required to further affirm clinical impact.