The invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing a cyclic physiological signal (30, 40, 52, 53, 54). The method comprises the steps of repeatedly collecting (2) the physiological signal (30, 40, 52, 53, 54) over a time period (31, 32, 33) covering two or more cycles of the cyclic physiological signal (30, 40, 52, 53, 54), wherein a next time period (31, 32, 33) is adjacent to or overlaps with a previous time period (31, 32, 33), extracting values (3, 13) of a set of predefined parameters from the physiological signal (30, 40, 52, 53, 54) within each time period (31, 32, 33) which parameter values characterize the physiological signal (30, 40, 52, 53, 54) within the time period (31, 32, 33), and classifying (4, 14) the physiological signal (30, 40, 52, 53, 54) within each time period (31, 32, 33) based upon the extracted set of predefined parameter values. This provides for an efficient analysis of a cyclic physiological signal which is especially suitable for continuous monitoring of patients where a trend of a reliable physiological signal is more important than an instantaneous measurement of a reliable physiological signal, such as in a general ward environment of a hospital and/or in a home environment.
