Systems and methods are provided for evaluating an alarm condition for a monitored patient in a population of one or more patients. One or more physiological parameters pertaining to the patient, or physiological variables, are used to form a time series describing the patient status. A dimension parameter such as a time series roughness statistic or a fractal dimension is used to estimate a dimension decision statistic over time. The dimension decision statistic is used as a measure of physiological condition. The dimension decision statistic may be compared to a threshold to determine a region of operation for the dimension of the physiological variable. The dimension decision statistic is used in an embodiment in combination with the underlying raw physiological variable value to reduce the rate of false alarms, to increase the frequency of missed detections, and to aid diagnostic decision making and to aid the formation of a crisis action plan.