Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27834782›Full record

ArticleJournal of neonatal-perinatal medicine2016

Alarms, oxygen saturations, and SpO2 averaging time in the NICU.

C McClure, S Young Jang, K Fairchild

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neonatal-perinatal medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Automated oxygen delivery for preterm infants with respiratory dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Evaluation of two SpOBMC pediatrics · 2019
    Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. A Multiscale Mathematical Model for Fetal Gas Transport and Regulatory Systems During Second Half of Pregnancy.International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering · 2025
    Article
  11. Observational
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Can Intermittent Hypoxemia Help Detect Pulmonary Hypertension in High-risk Preemies?American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2023
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Pulse Oximeter Performance during Rapid Desaturation.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

C McClure
S Young Jang
K Fairchild
University of Virginia · US

Funding

Predictive Informatics Monitoring in the Neonatal Intensive Care UnitR01HD072071 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI KAREN D FAIRCHILD, Brynne Archer Sullivan · 2014 to 2026
$7.6M
Neonatal apnea: Online risk score from new analyses of bedside monitor waveformsRC2HD064488 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI KATTWINKEL, JOHN, MOORMAN, JOSEPH RANDALL · 2009 to 2010
$2.0M
NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD072071NICHD NIH HHS RC2 HD064488
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlarm overload is a significant concern in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Selecting a longer oxygen saturation (SpO2) averaging time will reduce the number of alarms but may mask fluctuations in oxygenation.

objectiveCharacterize bedside monitor alarms in the NICU and estimate the impact of longer SpO2 averaging time and alarm delay.

methodsAll bedside monitor alarms were analyzed over a 12-month period in the University of Virginia NICU, using the default averaging time (8 seconds) and SpO2 alarm limits set at 88-95% for infants on supplemental oxygen. In 10 VLBW infants, SpO2 averaging time was lowered to 2 seconds for 24 hours and events of SpO2 out of the target range were estimated with 2-, 8-, or 16-second averaging time, with and without a 15-second alarm delay.

resultsThere were 3,263,590 alarms in the unit over 12 months. Low or high SpO2 alarms constituted 79% of the total, and 55% of these events lasted <15 seconds. In 10 infants we estimated that increasing SpO2 averaging time from 2 to 16 seconds would have led to 53% fewer SpO2 alarms but the mean duration of alarms would have been 2.15-fold longer. Adding a 15-second alarm delay to 2-second SpO2 averaging in this analysis decreased SpO2 alarms by 67%.

conclusionLonger SpO2 averaging times mask the number and severity of events of aberrant oxygenation in preterm infants without decreasing total alarm time. Incorporating an alarm delay with shorter SpO2 averaging times can reduce alarm number and duration, and allow more accurate assessment of oxygenation, which may be important for research into consequences of aberrant oxygenation in this vulnerable population.

Indexed as

Clinical AlarmsAlert Fatigue, Health PersonnelFemaleHumansHypoxiaInfant, Extremely PrematureInfant, NewbornInfant, PrematureInfant, Very Low Birth WeightIntensive Care Units, NeonatalMaleMonitoring, PhysiologicOximetryOxygen Inhalation TherapyRespiration, ArtificialTime FactorsAlarmaveraginghypoxemiaoxygen saturationpreterm infantpulse oximetryvery low birthweight

Identifiers

PMID27834782
PMCPMC5684874
OpenAlexW2549559876

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.