Family supplemented patient monitoring after surgery (SMARTER): a pilot stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial
An erratum to this article was published (Br J Anaesth, Apr 2025 ↗)
Primary result · Number of sets of vital signs (arrival on postoperative ward to end of postoperative day 3)Result — go to the resultIncidence rate ratio 12.4 95% CI 8.8–17.5Authors' conclusion
Family member supplemented vital signs monitoring substantially increased the frequency of vital signs after surgery.
Study context
- Population
- Adult inpatients on four surgical wards of a Ugandan hospital after surgery (74.8% Caesarean delivery)enrolled April–October 2021
- Participants
- 1,395 inpatients
- Comparison
- Family member supplemented vital signs monitoring vs routine care
- SMARTER interventionn = 677
- Usual caren = 718reference
- Primary endpoint
- Frequency of vital sign measurements from arrival on the postoperative ward
- Follow-up
- To end of postoperative day 3
Methodological detailssingle hospital, four surgical wards (clusters), Clusters crossed once from routine care to the intervention at monthly intervals
- Single hospital, four surgical wards (clusters)
- Clusters crossed once from routine care to the intervention at monthly intervals
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Number of sets of vital signs (arrival on postoperative ward to end of postoperative day 3) · 3 days
Incidence rate ratio
12.4
95% CI 8.8–17.5
P < 0.001
By group
Intervention
3
Median · IQR 1–8
Control
0
Median · IQR 0–1
Intervention vs Control
IRR 12.4 (95% CI 8.8–17.5); P < 0.001
Further findings
| Outcome | SMARTER intervention | Usual care | Estimate | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length of hospital stayNo difference between groups | 2 (IQR 2–4) days | 2 (IQR 2–3) days | HR 1.11 (95% CI 0.84–1.47) | P = 0.44 | |
| Mortality | 1.77% | 0.84% | OR 1.32 (95% CI 0.1–14.7) | P = 0.821 | |
| 0.050.21520Ratio (log scale) |
Original publication
Family supplemented patient monitoring after surgery (SMARTER): a pilot stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial. Br J Anaesth. Published 27 July 2024. doi:10.
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