title: Continuous auditory monitoring--how much information do we register?
abstract: We have studied response times of 30 anaesthetists to a standardized episode of arterial oxygen desaturation in a simulated patient, randomized to the use of either a fixed or variable pitch pulse oximeter. We wished to determine if a variable auditory signal was important in detecting adverse events. A variable pitch pulse signal had a shorter time to recognition of desaturation (P < 0.0001), with a mean response time of 32 s, compared with 129 s for the fixed pitch signal.
authors.affiliation: Sir Humphry Davy Department of Anaesthesia, Bristol Royal Infirmary, UK.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Craven
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: McIndoe
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010092:Oximetry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011930:Reaction Time