To the Editor: The concept that respiratory rate (RR) is a key vital sign is hardly new,1 but it is being re-emphasised.2,3 The recent article by Cretikos et al3 highlights the diagnostic relevance of a raised RR for serious adverse events. The authors make sensible recommendations regarding the need to educate hospital staff about the importance of measuring patients’ RR.
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- 1 Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Sydney, NSW.
- 2 Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
Correspondence: S.Gandevia@unsw.edu.au
- 1. Lenfant C. Time-dependent variations of pulmonary gas exchange in normal man at rest. J Appl Physiol 1967; 22: 675-684.
- 2. Cullinane M, Findlay G, Hargraves C, et al. An acute problem? London: National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death, 2005. http://www.ncepod.org.uk/2005aap.htm (accessed Aug 2008).
- 3. Cretikos MA, Bellomo R, Hillman K, et al. Respiratory rate: the neglected vital sign. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 657-659. <MJA full text>
- 4. Talley NJ, O’Connor S. Clinical examination: a systematic guide to physical diagnosis. 5th ed. Sydney: Churchill Livingstone, 2006.
- 5. Comroe JH, Forster RE, Dubois AB, et al, editors. The lung: clinical physiology and pulmonary function tests. 2nd ed. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1962.
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