Table 5.
Incidence and associated mortality of abnormalities of individual vital signs
| Vital Sign Variable | No. of ICU Stays With at Least One Valid Measurementa | Median of Median of Stays (IQR of Median of Stays) | Vital Sign Instability Definition | No. of ICU Stays With at Least One Episode of Instability | Associated Mortality Rate (Positive Cases) | Associated Mortality Rate (Negative Controls) | Odds Ratio | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart rate, beats/min | 20,399 | 84 (74.5–93.5) | HR >150 | 1084 | 32.4% | 9.9% | 4.4 | 3.8–5.0 |
| HR >120 | 5820 | 21.8% | 6.8% | 3.8 | 3.5–4.2 | |||
| HR <40 | 294 | 26.5% | 10.8% | 3.0 | 2.3–3.9 | |||
| SBP >220 | 475 | 20.8% | 10.8% | 2.2 | 1.7–2.7 | |||
| Systolic BP, mm Hg | 20,398 | 119 (108–132) | SBP > 200 | 1506 | 19.0% | 10.4% | 2.0 | 1.8–2.3 |
| SBP <90 | 10,393 | 16.9% | 5.0% | 3.9 | 3.5–4.3 | |||
| SBP <80 | 5808 | 23.8% | 6.0% | 4.9 | 4.5–5.4 | |||
| Respiratory rate, breaths/min | 20,347 | 18 (16–21) | RR >40 | 2431 | 21.3% | 9.7% | 2.5 | 2.3–2.8 |
| RR >30 | 7991 | 18.3% | 6.4% | 3.3 | 3.0–3.6 | |||
| Pulse oximetry | 20,383 | 98 (97–99) | SpO2 <90% | 6372 | 21.9% | 6.1% | 4.3 | 3.9–4.7 |
| SpO2 <80% | 2232 | 31.2% | 8.6% | 4.8 | 4.4–5.4 |
ICU, intensive care unit; IQR, interquartile range; CI, confidence interval; BP, blood pressure; HR, heart rate; SBP, systolic blood pressure; RR, respiratory rate.
a
Excludes hospitalizations with multiple ICU stays; the last 12 hrs of every patient record (to avoid end-of-life physiology); and any documented values outside of the following ranges: HR 20–300, SBP 30–250; RR 2–80; SpO2 30–100.