Assessment of Manual Pulse Calculations at Varying Time Intervals: A Clinical Test Accuracy Original Article

Background: Pulse measurement and heart rate are one of the most basic medical skills and yet, is the most important skill that has be learned by all medical professionals. The duration of how long that should be measured is variable depending on the learning of individual medical student. Aim: To assess accuracy of pulse calculation done manually to decide the cutoff on how long pulse should be measured. Methodology: An observational study was conducted after due IRB permission where included patients’ pulse was calculated for different time intervals and extrapolated to calculate the beats per minute. At the same time, patient’s pulse was taken by a calibrated pulse oximeter 6 times during that 1 minute. Average of the Oximeter data was compared against the extrapolated data was compared for their averages and standard deviation across all time fields using T-test and statistical significant difference was found. Result: Presence of statistical difference between the extrapolated data and oximeter data represents that calculating pulse for that long actually yields statistically significant deviation. Calculating pulse for 12 seconds and extrapolating it yields p-value of 0.0002 representing a significant difference but calculating higher than 12, i.e., for 15 seconds and then extrapolating yields p-value of 0.0612 which represents a nonsignificant difference compared to average oximeter pulse reading. Conclusion: This research paper although simple has been a way to answer the age old question on how long pulse should be measured. This concludes that any measurements higher than 15 seconds does yield a nonsignificant difference. Hence, the pulse should at least be measured for 15 seconds or higher.