A study exploring the use of continuous vital sign monitoring in acutely unwell general medical inpatients.

This observational study explores the use of breathing and heart rate measurement devices that provide continuous monitoring of unwell hospital inpatients. These devices non-invasively detect patient observations and communicate with a centralised computer. Using these devices, patient observations can be automatically collected and displayed for the use of medical staff caring for the patient. This study involves three new monitoring devices; one that attaches to the chest wall device with an adhesive patch to measure respiratory rate, one that is worn around the wrist with a strap and has a finger probe attached to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation, and another that is placed underneath the patient’s mattress and can measure heart rate and respiratory rate. The study is designed in two parts; the first to assess the agreement between vital sign recordings using novel devices compared to gold standard measurements, and the second to compare continuous vital sign monitoring with standard intermittent nursing observations. A total of 27 people who provide informed consent to join both parts (Part 1 and Part 2) of the study will be monitored with these three devices for 48 hours while in hospital. Each participant will have all three devices applied by a study investigator. The participants care while in hospital will not be influenced by their involvement in the study. Nurses will continue to monitor participants as they normally would, and the device measurements will not be visible to hospital staff during the study.