Emergency Department Triage Respiratory Rate Measurements Are Often Inaccurate

Inaccurate measurement of respiratory rate can have significant implications for patient care. In this cross-sectional study of 191 emergency department patients, investigators compared the accuracy of respiratory rate measurement by usual care (direct observation of respirations by a triage nurse for 15 seconds, multiplied by 4) and by an electronic BioHarness device (detection of respirations by a thoracic pressure sensor) for identifying tachypnea. They used direct observation of respirations by a trained research assistant for 60 seconds as the criterion standard measurement.

Of 191 patients, 44 (23%) were characterized as tachypnic (respiratory rate >20 breaths/minute) by criterion standard measurement. Usual measurement identified 10 o…