ArticlePloS one2014
Frequency of vital signs monitoring and its association with mortality among adults with severe sepsis admitted to a general medical ward in Uganda.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vital sign-based Early Warning Scores in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of clinical effectiveness and implementation challenges.Global health action · 2026Pooled it
- The Early Recognition and Management of Sepsis in Sub-Saharan African Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- Vasopressor Use Among Adults With Sepsis in Uganda and Rwanda: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.Critical care explorations · 2026Article
- A retrospective records review comparing the care of patients who either avoided or were admitted to an ICU following a ward-based deterioration event.Intensive & critical care nursing · 2025Article
- TheU-shape association between on-admission resting heart rate and 60-day all-cause mortality of AIDS inpatients in Fujian China: a retrospective cohort study.AIDS research and therapy · 2024Article
- The Universal Vital Assessment (UVA) score at 6 hours post-resuscitation predicts mortality in hospitalized adults with severe sepsis in Mbarara, Uganda.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
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- Can a low-cost exercise monitor provide useful heart rate monitoring for use in low-resource emergency departments?Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2021Article
- Factors and Outcomes Related to the Use of Guideline-Recommended Antibiotics in Patients With Neutropenic Fever at the Uganda Cancer Institute.Open forum infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Sepsis in two hospitals in Rwanda: A retrospective cohort study of presentation, management, outcomes, and predictors of mortality.PloS one · 2021Article
- Improving sepsis care in Africa: an opportunity for change?The Pan African medical journal · 2021Article
- Quality of vital sign monitoring during obstetric hospitalizations at a regional referral and teaching hospital in Uganda: an opportunity for improvement.The Pan African medical journal · 2021Article
- Use of ultra-low cost fitness trackers as clinical monitors in low resource emergency departments.Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2020Article
- A New Insight Into Missing Data in Intensive Care Unit Patient Profiles: Observational Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2019Article
- An observational study of monitoring of vital signs in children admitted to Kenyan hospitals: an insight into the quality of nursing care?Journal of global health · 2018Observational
- Task Shifting: The Use of Laypersons for Acquisition of Vital Signs Data for Clinical Decision Making in the Emergency Room Following Traumatic Injury.World journal of surgery · 2017Article
- A complex intervention to improve implementation of World Health Organization guidelines for diagnosis of severe illness in low-income settings: a quasi-experimental study from Uganda.Implementation science : IS · 2017Article
- Article
- Derivation and validation of a universal vital assessment (UVA) score: a tool for predicting mortality in adult hospitalised patients in sub-Saharan Africa.BMJ global health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionOptimal vital signs monitoring of patients with severe sepsis in resource-limited settings may improve outcomes. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of vital signs monitoring of patients with severe sepsis and its association with mortality in a regional referral hospital in Uganda.
methodsWe reviewed medical records of patients admitted to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in Southwestern Uganda with severe sepsis defined by the presence of infection plus ≥ 2 of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria, and ≥ 1 organ dysfunction (altered mental state, hypotension, jaundice, or thrombocytopenia). We recorded frequency of vital signs monitoring in addition to socio-demographic, clinical, and outcome data. We analyzed the data using logistic regression.
resultsWe identified 202 patients with severe sepsis. The median age was 35 years (IQR, 25-47) and 98 (48%) were female. HIV infection and anemia was present in 115 (57%) and 83 (41%) patients respectively. There were 67 (33%) in-hospital deaths. The median monitoring frequency per day was 1.1 (IQR 0.9-1.5) for blood pressure, 1.0 (IQR, 0.8-1.3) for temperature and pulse, and 0.5 (IQR, 0.3-1.0) for respiratory rate. The frequency of vital signs monitoring decreased during the course of hospitalization. Patients who died had a higher frequency of vital signs monitoring (p<0.05). The admission respiratory rate was associated with both frequency of monitoring (coefficient of linear regression 0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.8, p<0.001) and mortality (AOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.3-5.3, p = 0.01). Other predictors of mortality included severity of illness, HIV infection, and anemia (p<0.05).
conclusionsMore research is needed to determine the optimal frequency of vital signs monitoring for severely septic patients in resource-limited settings such as Uganda.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.