Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 23, 2026
Conducting Respiratory Oscillometry in an Outpatient Setting
Published on: April 8, 2022
The Performance of a Mobile Phone Respiratory Rate Counter Compared to the WHO ARI Timer
Heng Gan1,2, Walter Karlen3, Dustin Dunsmuir1
1Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada.
Objective:
To compare the accuracy and efficiency of the respiratory rate (RR) RRate mobile application to the WHO ARI Timer.
Methods:
Volunteers used both devices to measure RR from reference videos of infants and children. Measurements were compared using correlation, Bland-Altman analysis, error metrics and time taken.
Results:
Measurements with either device were highly correlated to the reference (r = 0.991 and r = 0.982), and to each other (r = 0.973). RRate had a larger bias than the ARI Timer (0.6 vs. 0.04 br/min), but tighter limits of agreement (-4.5 to 3.3 br/min vs. -5.5 to 5.5 br/min). RRate was more accurate than the ARI Timer (percentage error 10.6% vs. 14.8%, root mean square error 2.1 vs. 2.8 br/min and normalized root mean square error 5.6% vs. 7.5%). RRate measurements were 52.7 seconds (95% CI 50.4 s to 54.9 s) faster.
Conclusion:
During video observations, RRate measured RR quicker with a similar accuracy compared to the ARI Timer.
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