Anxiety level in patients with vital signs monitor at Cardiovascular Center, Hanoi Medical University

The Cardiovascular Center at Hanoi Medical University Hospital (HMUH) routinely employs vital signs monitoring systems for patient in severe conditions, post-intervention, and post-cardiothoracic surgery. However, confining patients to their beds often causes significant inconvenience. Additionally, alarm signals from these systems, while crucial for safety, can often be clinically insignificant, leading to patient anxiety. This study aimed to assess the anxiety levels and experiences of patients connected to continuous monitoring systems. Conducted between February and May 2024 at the Cardiovascular Center (HMUH), the cross-sectional study involved 108 patients who had been continuously monitored for at least 24 hours. Data were collected on demographics, reasons for monitoring, alarm frequency, clinical significance of alarms, and anxiety levels using the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS). Results indicated some notable results, continuous monitoring was primarily due to post-cardiovascular interventions (51.9%), a significant majority (96.8%) experienced more than 12 alarms per day, but only 38.7% of these alarms had clinical significance. Anxiety levels were notably high, with 33.4% having anxiety. Major factors contributing to patient discomfort included sound and limitations in personal care. Continuous monitoring significantly impacts patient anxiety and comfort, primarily due to excessive non-significant alarms and restricted mobility.