Risk prediction using the National Early Warning Score and the Worthing Physiological Scoring System in patients who were transported to the Intensive Care Unit from the Emergency Department: A cohort study

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the value of the National Early Warning Score and Worthing Physiological Scoring System for predicting changes in the condition of critical cases during transfer from the emergency department to the intensive care unit. METHODS: This prospective single-centre study was conducted at a 1759-bed hospital in Beijing. We recorded the vital signs in the cases before leaving the emergency department and their changes in condition during transit. RESULTS: A total of 258 critically ill cases were included. Forty-four cases (17.05%) exhibited changes in their condition during transit. Compared with cases with NEWS ≤ 5, cases with NEWS > 5 were more likely to experience changes with an OR of 5.744 (95% CI 2.888-11.426). Compared with cases with WPS ≤ 2, cases with WPS > 2 were more likely to experience changes with an OR of 7.217 (95% CI 3.575-14.569). The difference between the areas under the curve of the NEWS (0.751 ± 0.045) and the WPS (0.736 ± 0.045) was not statistically significant (P = 0.4518). CONCLUSION: In our study, the Worthing Physiological Scoring System and National Early Warning Score both exhibited good discriminatory power, but the Worthing Physiological Scoring System is simpler to use and more suitable for use in a busy emergency department.