Comparison of Prognostic Scores for Patients with COVID-19 Presenting with Dyspnea in the Emergency Department.

Comparison of Prognostic Scores for Patients with COVID-19 Presenting with Dyspnea in the Emergency Department.

Authors: Shuai Yang, Yuxin Zhang, Yan He, Shengming Liu
Journal: Journal of Emergency Medicine
Publication Date: July 24, 2023

Conclusions:

• For swift risk stratification of COVID-19 patients, ED physicians can efficiently employ the S/F, ROX, and NEWS scores.
• Considering the aspect of simplicity and ease of computation, the S/F ratio is particularly recommended.

Methods:

• This was a retrospective observational study.
• Clinical and demographic data of COVID-19 patients were collected upon ED admission.
• Prognostic scores (S/F, ROX, NEWS, CRB-65, qSOFA) were calculated upon ED arrival.
• The ability of these scores to predict the requirement for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) within 48 hours, ICU admission, and early (7-day) mortality were determined through receiver operating characteristic curves.

Results:

• The study included 375 patients.
• 13.3% (50 patients) needed IMV within 48 hours.
• 15.5% (58 patients) were admitted to the ICU.
• The 7-day mortality rate was 6.7%, and the 28-day mortality rate was 18.1%.
• Out of all the prognostic scores assessed using the ED data:
• ROX, S/F, and NEWS were more discriminative in predicting the need for IMV within 48 hours, ICU admissions, and early mortality than CRB-65 and qSOFA.