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Methods of determining the prevalence of changes in vital signs among internal medicine inpatients
M S Hendryx1, J E Rohrer, J F Fieselmann
1University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242.
Objective:
To investigate the prevalence of changes in vital signs and methods of summarizing these changes.
Design:
A survey of vital sign values for all eligible inpatients over a three-day period.
Patients:
All 91 patients who remained for an entire three-day period in January 1991 on 1 of 11 nonintensive care internal medicine units in the medical center.
Results:
Prevalence of changing vital signs varied by type of vital sign, inpatient unit, and method of computation. A method of computation that relies on daily extreme vital sign values. Pulse rates and blood pressure were more variable than respiratory rates.
Conclusions:
Mean daily pulse rates and blood pressure may be useful for quality assessment purposes, whereas individual readings may be more appropriate for respiratory rates. Computation of expected rates of changing vital signs should be tailored to inpatient unit type.