Table 7.
Medical interventions and diagnoses in relation to frequent false arrhythmia alarms
| Patient characteristics
|
Higher number of false arrhythmia alarms per monitored hour
|
Longer duration in seconds of false arrhythmia alarms per monitored hour
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiac interventions (associated with electrocardiographic changes) | Median (range; sum) | P-value; additional statistics for significant results | Median (range; sum) | P-value; additional statistics for significant results |
| #Pacemaker (temporary and permanent) | ||||
| No, n=429 | 0.1 (0–184; 766) | 0.002; U =4,559; z =−3.107; r =0.15 | 0.1 (0–1,228; 10,438) | 0.002; U =4,589; z =−3.071; r =0.14 |
| Yes, n=31 | 0.9 (0–51; 284) | 10.5 (0–3,182; 7,113) | ||
| VAD | ||||
| No, n=458 | 0.1 (0–184; 994) | 0.016; U =163; z =−2.419; r =0.11 | 0.2 (0–3,182; 16,872) | 0.009; U =121; z =−2.620; r =0.12 |
| Yes, n=3 | 11.3 (1–46; 58) | 218.0 (11–458; 687) | ||
| Respiratory intervention | ||||
| MV | ||||
| No, n=294 | 0.0 (0–51; 384) | <0.001; U =19,625; z =−3.803; r =0.18 | 0.0 (0–954; 4,180) | <0.001; U =19,298; z =−4.066; r =0.19 |
| Yes, n=167 | 0.4 (0–184; 669) | 1.2 (0–3,812; 17,559) | ||
| Physiological system/medical diagnosis | ||||
| CV | ||||
| No, n=333 | 0.0 (0–46; 447) | <0.001; U =16,724; z =−3.803; r=0.18 | 0.0 (0–654; 5,875) | <0.001; U =16,884; z =3.680; r =0.18 |
| Yes, n=128 | 0.5 (0–184; 606) | 1.7 (0–3,812; 11,684) | ||
| Endocrine | ||||
| No, n=428 | 0.1 (0–73; 847) | 0.737 | 0.2 (0–3,812; 16,152) | 0.883 |
| Yes, n=33 | 0.2 (0–184; 206) | 0.4 (0–1,034; 1,407) | ||
| GI | ||||
| No, n=427 | 0.1 (0–184; 1,016) | 0.400 | 0.4 (0–3,812; 17,214) | 0.295 |
| Yes, n=34 | 0.3 (0–22; 36) | 0.0 (0–177; 345) | ||
| Hepatic | ||||
| No, n=424 | 0.2 (0–184; 1,010) | 0.289 | 0.4 (0–3,812; 17,083) | 0.284 |
| Yes, n=37 | 0.0 (0–22; 42) | 0.0 (0–176; 475) | ||
| Musculoskeletal | ||||
| No, n=431 | 0.1 (0–73; 844) | 0.549 | 0.2 (0–1,312; 16,321) | 0.702 |
| Yes, n=30 | 0.4 (0–184; 208) | 1.5 (0–1,034; 1,238) | ||
| Neurological | ||||
| No, n=253 | 0.2 (0–31; 507) | 0.339 | 0.4 (0–3,812; 10,982) | 0.394 |
| Yes, n=208 | 0.0 (0–184; 1,052) | 0.0 (0–1,228; 6,577) | ||
| Renal | ||||
| No, n=417 | 0.0 (0–184; 917) | 0.114 | 0.0 (0–3,812; 14,854) | 0.059 |
| Yes, n=44 | 0.3 (0–73; 136) | 0.8 (0–1,228; 2,705) | ||
| Respiratory, includes mechanical ventilation patients | ||||
| No, n=254 | 0.0 (0–51; 358) | 0.004; U =54,843; z =−2.859; r =0.13 | 0.0 (0–954; 3,989) | 0.004; U =54,804; z =−2.896; r =0.14 |
| Yes, n=207 | 0.3 (0–184; 695) | 0.8 (0–3,812; 13,570) | ||
| MODS | ||||
| No, n=416 | 0.1 (0–51; 51) | 0.415 | 0.1 (0–51; 728) | 0.273 |
| Yes, n=45 | 0.2 (0–184; 324) | 0.8 (0–1,228; 3,913) | ||
| Other diagnoses, including substance withdrawal | ||||
| No, 409 | 0.2 (0–184; 1,023) | 0.064 | 0.5 (0–3,812; 16,897) | 0.095 |
| Yes, n=52 | 0.0 (0–7; 29) | 0.0 (–274; 662) | ||
Notes: Mann–Whitney U-test: number and duration of false arrhythmia alarm per hour compared between patients who do or do not have the selected characteristic (N=461); Results in bold are statistically significant with alpha set at 0.05, patients with a characteristic depicted in bold have significantly more arrhythmia alarms than those patients without the characteristic.
#
One patient’s pacemaker status was unclear, and the data was treated as missing. Missing data was excluded from the calculation.
Abbreviations: CV, cardiovascular; GI, gastrointestinal; MODS, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome; MV, mechanically ventilated; VAD, ventricular assist device.