How reliable are respiratory rate measurements in children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Inter-observer variation in the measurement of respiratory rate in children
IRAS ID
205102
Contact name
Heather Elphick
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Childrens NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
The breathing rate of a child is an important sign that is measured by both nurses and doctors when a child is admitted to hospital and subsequently during their stay. Breathing rate gives a good assessment of how sick a child is and what immediate care is needed. The healthcare professional will usually use suitable devices to check the other vital signs, such as body temperature, pulse rate and blood oxygen levels. However, the breathing rate has to be manually counted (this is the average number of breaths taken each minute).
As the measurement of breathing rate is a subjective assessment there is a possibility that there could be a difference in measurements if two different people were to take the breathing rate of the same child at the same time. If the measurements obtained vary between individuals then this has implications on the assessment of the child as being well or unwell and the subsequent management they receive.
We will study the differences in respiratory rate measurements taken by 3 different observers on the same child within a 2 hour period as well as a questionnaire based assessment of respiratory rate from video recordings of children breathing.
Through this study we can advise on how accurate breathing rate measurements are between different healthcare professionals and if any variation affects children being admitted sooner and receiving important treatment promptly.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0262
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion