Comparison of Pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (pSOFA) and quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) Scores in Predicting Morbidity and Mortality in Children Admitted to PICU in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Uttarakhand: A Retrospective Diagnostic Accuracy Study

Introduction: Projecting the chances of mortality and the assessment of its severity are very subjective. Here we try to present 2 scores – pediatric Sequential Oragan Failure Assessment (pSOFA) and Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) as tools to measure the intensity of illness and project mortality. Methods: This is a retrospective study. Charts of 154 children admitted to our ICU between 1/8/2019 to 30/5/2021 were reviewed and relevant details were collected. pSOFA, qSOFA scores at the entry to ICU was computed. Outcomes – mortality, survival and number of days of stay in ICU was noted and the ability of the above mentioned scores in predicting the outcomes were determined by using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves and calculating Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristics (AUROC). Results: pSOFA score of more than 8, predicted mortality with a sensitivity of 70.45% and specificity of 89.09%. The AUROC was 0.936 with a P-value of 0.012. qSOFA also had comparable results with sensitivity of 90.9% and specificity of 46.6%. The Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristics (AUROC) was 0.779, with a P-value of 0.040. Conclusion: Calculating the pSOFA and qSOFA score of children, helps us in understanding the severity of illness. Our study shows that qSOFA score although is not as good as pSOFA in assessing the severity and projecting mortality, it still has comparable results. Hence this must be used at the point of first contact with the patient in an ICU and later confirmed with pSOFA score after the laboratory reports arrive.