Wearable Continuous Vital Sign Monitoring Study (WARD-AMS) to Detect Clinical Deterioration in Postoperative General...

Area of Science:

• Medical monitoring technologies
• Patient safety and outcomes
• Clinical informatics

Background:

• Postoperative complications are a major challenge, with significant mortality in general wards.
• Current monitoring relies on intermittent checks, often missing early signs of deterioration.
• Continuous vital sign monitoring offers potential for earlier detection of clinical decline.

Purpose of the Study:

• To prospectively evaluate continuous vital sign monitoring in adult postoperative patients on general wards.
• To determine if continuous monitoring reduces the time to clinical escalation after physiological deterioration.
• To assess clinical outcomes, operational impact, and user experiences.

Main Methods:

• A single-center, open-label randomized controlled trial involving 200 general surgical patients.
• Patients received continuous vital signs monitoring, randomized to alerting or non-alerting groups.
• Primary outcome: time from device-detected deterioration to clinical escalation.

Main Results:

• The Ward Alerting and Ambulatory Monitoring Study (WARD-AMS) trial enrolled 200 patients between October 2024 and December 2025.
• Data analysis is ongoing, with results anticipated by mid-2026.
• This study provides prospective, randomized data on continuous monitoring in ward settings.

Conclusions:

• This study is a pioneering prospective, randomized evaluation of continuous vital sign monitoring in ward settings.
• It integrates clinical outcomes, alarm analytics, and user experiences for a comprehensive understanding.
• Findings will guide strategies for optimizing early deterioration response and technology implementation.