Effectiveness of respiratory rates in determining clinical deterioration: a systematic review protocol.

REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to identify, appraise and synthesize the best available evidence on the effectiveness of manually measuring respiratory rates for 60 s or less in detecting clinical deterioration of inpatients. More specifically, the review question is:Is measurement of respiratory rates for 60 s more effective in detecting clinical deterioration than a shorter duration of measurement?