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Patient Survival and Length of Stay Associated With Delayed Rapid Response System Activation.
Crit Care Nurs Q. 2019 Jul/Sep;42(3):235-245
Authors: Padilla RM, Mayo AM
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the difference in mortality and length of stay between patients who experienced a delay in rapid response system (RRS) activation and those who did not. A retrospective comparative cohort study investigated all adult inpatient cases that experienced an RRS activation from January 1, 2017, through January 1, 2018. Cases experiencing a delay in RRS activation were compared with cases without delay. During the study period a total of 3580 RRS activations that took place and 1086 RRS activations met inclusion criteria for analysis. Delayed RRS activations occurred in 325 cases (29.8%) and nondelayed RRS activations occurred in 766 cases (70.2%). The mean age was roughly the same for both groups (60 years old) and both groups consisted of approximately 60% males. Delay in activation was significantly associated with an increase in length of hospitalization (19.9 days vs 32.4 days; P < .001) and also a higher likelihood of not surviving hospitalization (hazard ratio = 2.70; 95% confidence interval, 1.96-3.71; P < .001). This study demonstrates that delayed RRS activation occurs frequently and exposes patients to higher mortality and longer length of hospitalization.
PMID: 31135474 [PubMed - in process]