Simplified metaphorical anesthesia interfaces

Objective: To show that anesthesiologists might be able to diagnose complications both faster and with higher accuracy when using a graphical histogram display instead of a classic cardiovascular display. Method: Our histogram displays shows the same 6 physiological variables as the cardiovascular monitor using colored bars rather than waveforms and numerical values. In a repeated measures design, 15 anesthesiologists were asked to make a diagnosis based on snapshots of both monitors. Results: Participants did not perform significantly better when using our histogram display. A strong effect was found however, of incidence on both accuracy and response time. Discussion: Although shorter response times were observed for the new display, the statistical power was not sufficient to confirm that the use of this alternative display caused the lower response times. An experiment with more subjects might still be able to confirm our hypothesis.