Prognostic Accuracy of QSOFA Score Compared to SOFA Score among Patients with Sepsis

Abstract

BACKGROUND Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. According to sepsis - 3 criteria, sepsis is diagnosed by Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score of more than two. Surviving sepsis campaign introduced a newer scoring system, quick SOFA (QSOFA) score which uses only clinical parameters to prognosticate sepsis bed side and at the earliest. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the QSOFA score and then compare it to SOFA score in prognostication of sepsis. METHODS This study was a prospective observational study conducted in R. L. Jalappa Hospital among 150 individuals. Assessment of SOFA and QSOFA score was done and its significance in predicting mortality and morbidity was compared. RESULTS There were 87 males and 63 females. Mortality rate was 38.7 %. The initial QSOFA score of 1, 2 and 3 had mortality rate of 5.2 %, 24.1 % and 70.7 % respectively. Initial SOFA score of < 4, 4 - 8 and > 8 had mortality rate of 5.2 %, 37.9 % and 56.9 % respectively. Interpretation - The SOFA score had statistically significant correlation in assessing need for ventilator support, QSOFA score had a significant relation assessing need for ventilator support, vasopressor support. CONCLUSIONS Both scores demonstrated good accuracy for predicting in-hospital mortality. The QSOFA scoring system can aid where the resources are limited. KEY WORDS Sepsis, SOFA Score, QSOFA Score, Septic Shock