Effectiveness of continuous or intermittent vital signs monitoring in preventing adverse events on general wards: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Monitoring vital signs is a longstanding hospital practice. This systematic review determined that vital sign monitoring leads to early identification of patient deterioration and rapid response activation. However, investigators found no improvements in prevention of cardiac arrest or length of hospital stay. They suggest that larger studies with standardized outcome measures are needed to assess the optimal frequency and protocol for vital sign monitoring.