The value of the Modified Early Warning Score for unplanned Intensive Care Unit admissions of patients treated in hospital general wards (original) (raw)

Validation of a Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) in emergency department observation ward patients

The Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) is a simple physiological scoring system, which can easily be applied at the bedside. The ability of MEWS to identify patients at risk of deterioration in a busy ward was investigated. Method: In a prospective cohort study, we applied MEWS to patients admitted to the 16-bed emergency department observation ward (EDOW) of a tertiary teaching hospital. Results: Data on 427 consecutive EDOW admissions were collected from 7 June to 4 July 2004. Main outcome measures were death, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and inpatient hospital admission. Scores of > 4 were associated with increased risk of death (OR 54.4, 95% CI = 4.7−633.7), ICU admission (OR 12.7, 95% CI = 1.1−147.3) and hospital admission (OR 9.5, 95% CI = 3.3−27.9). Conclusion: MEWS is suitable for bedside application in an EDOW setting and may help identify patients at risk of deterioration who require increased levels of care as hospital inpatients and in ICU. Where experienced staff is not available to closely monitor patients in an EDOW, the use of the MEWS system may aid close monitoring and identification of high-risk patients.

Prognostic value of National Early Warning Score and Modified Early Warning Score on intensive care unit readmission and mortality: A prospective observational study

Frontiers in Medicine

BackgroundModified Early Warning Score (MEWS) and National Early Warning Score (NEWS) are widely used in predicting the mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission of critically ill patients. This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the prognostic value of NEWS and MEWS for predicting ICU readmission, mortality, and related outcomes in critically ill patients at the time of ICU discharge.MethodsThis multicenter, prospective, observational study was conducted over a year, from April 2019 to March 2020, in the general ICUs of two university-affiliated hospitals in Northwest Iran. MEWS and NEWS were compared based on the patients’ outcomes (including mortality, ICU readmission, time to readmission, discharge type, mechanical ventilation (MV), MV duration, and multiple organ failure after readmission) using the univariable and multivariable binary logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the outcome predictability of MEWS...

Poor performance of the modified early warning score for predicting mortality in critically ill patients presenting to an emergency department

World journal of emergency medicine, 2013

This study was undertaken to validate the use of the modified early warning score (MEWS) as a predictor of patient mortality and intensive care unit (ICU)/ high dependency (HD) admission in an Asian population. The MEWS was applied to a retrospective cohort of 1 024 critically ill patients presenting to a large Asian tertiary emergency department (ED) between November 2006 and December 2007. Individual MEWS was calculated based on vital signs parameters on arrival at ED. Outcomes of mortality and ICU/HD admission were obtained from hospital records. The ability of the composite MEWS and its individual components to predict mortality within 30 days from ED visit was assessed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were derived and compared with values from other cohorts. A MEWS of !4 was chosen as the cut-off value for poor prognosis based on previous studies. A total of 311 (30.4%) critically ill patients were presented with a MEWS !4. Their mean age was 6...

Pre-hospital National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is associated with in-hospital mortality and critical care unit admission: A cohort study

Annals of medicine and surgery (2012), 2018

National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is increasingly used in UK hospitals. However, there is only limited evidence to support the use of pre-hospital early warning scores. We hypothesised that pre-hospital NEWS was associated with death or critical care escalation within the first 48 h of hospital stay. Planned secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study at a single UK teaching hospital. Consecutive medical ward admissions over a 20-day period were included in the study. Data were collected from ambulance report forms, medical notes and electronic patient records. Pre-hospital NEWS was calculated retrospectively. The primary outcome was a composite of death or critical care unit escalation within 48 h of hospital admission. The secondary outcome was length of hospital stay. 189 patients were included in the analysis. The median pre-hospital NEWS was 3 (IQR 1-5). 13 patients (6.9%) died or were escalated to the critical care unit within 48 h of hospital admission. Pre-hospital NE...

The value of the Modified Early Warning Score and biochemical parameters as predictors of patient outcome in acute medical admissions a prospective study

Acute medicine

We evaluated the effectiveness of MEWS and biochemical parameters in predicting outcomes for acute medical admissions. Data from consecutive admissions to the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) of National Hospital of Sri Lanka were collected. C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, white cell count, platelet count and haemoglobin values were collected. Adverse endpoints were HDU/ICU admission,cardio-respiratory emergency/resuscitation and death. A MEWS score of >=5 together with increasing age,pulse rate, respiratory rate, AVPU score, CRP,CRP/Albumin ratio and reduced platelet and albumin levelall increased the odds of reaching "adverse endpoints". Adding a score for biochemical parameters increased the area under the ROC curve for reaching "adverse endpoints" Biochemical parameters better predicted length of hospital stay and adverse outcomes. A combined scoring system improved the sensitivity of prediction.

Daily surveillance with early warning scores help predicthospital mortality in medical wards

TURKISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, 2016

Background/aim: To analyze the potency of a modified early warning score (EWS) to help predict hospital mortality when used for surveillance in nonacute medical wards. Materials and methods: Patients in internal medicine wards were prospectively recruited. First, highest, and last scores; and mean daily score recordings and values were recorded. Nurses calculated scores for each patient upon admission and every 4 h. The last score was the score before death, discharge, or transfer to another ward. The highest scores in total and for each single parameter were used for analysis. Results: Fifty-nine percent of 182 recruited patients had recordings eligible for data analysis. Patients admitted from the emergency room had higher mortality rates than patients admitted from outpatient clinics (15% vs. 1.5%; P = 0.01) as well as patients whose first (40% vs. 4.9%; P = 0.033) and highest scores (18.8% vs. 1.3%; P = 0.003) were equal to or more than 3. The first recorded EWS was not predictive for mortality while the maximum score during the admission period was. Conclusion: This study underlines the fact that each physiological variable of EWS may not have the same weight in determining the outcome.

Improving accuracy and efficiency of early warning scores in acute care

British journal of nursing (Mark Allen Publishing)

Early warning scores (EWS) are an integral part of the care of acutely ill patients. Unfortunately, in the few studies where the accuracy of EWS has been tested it has been found to be lacking, with serious implications for quality of care. To determine if the provision of computer-aided scoring could increase the accuracy and efficiency of EWS calculations, when compared with the traditional pen-and-paper method, and to determine if it was acceptable to users. 26 nurses from two surgical assessment wards in two hospitals were studied. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase 1--a classroom-based exercise where nurses were given ten patient vignettes and asked to derive EWS using traditional pen-and-paper methods; Phase 2--the same as phase 1, but using a hand-held computer to derive EWS; Phase 3--the same as phase 2, but was a follow-up exercise undertaken in the ward environment, 4 weeks after computer-aided scoring was implemented in the two wards. Each phase closed with a ...

Assessing prognosis with modified early warning score, rapid emergency medicine score and worthing physiological scoring system in patients admitted to intensive care unit from emergency department

International Emergency Nursing, 2019

In this study our purpose is to examine the effectiveness and reliability of MEWS (Modified Early Warning Score), REMS (Rapid Emergency Medicine Score) and WPS (Worthing Physiological Scoring System) scoring systems for prediction of the prognosis and mortality rate of critically ill patients scheduled to be admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) among emergency department (ED) patients. Methods: This single-centered retrospective study was performed on medical, surgical and trauma patients referred to the ED and admitted to ICU of University Hospital between 23 July 2013 and 26 November 2015. Results: Mortality and the duration of stay in ICU were significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and WPS score compared to other variables (p = 0.014, p = 0.010 respectively). The decrease in SBP increased the mortality by 2 (OR: %95 CI 1.1-3.5) fold and the increase in WPS increased the mortality by 2.4 (OR: %95 CI 1.2-4.5) fold. Conclusions: In our study, there was a more significant correlation between WPS score and mortality and duration of stay in ICU compared to other scores.

Early Warning Scores at Time of ICU Admission to Predict Mortality in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients

2021

Objective: To assess ability of National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA), and CRB-65 calculated at the time of intensive care unit (ICU) admission for predicting ICU mortality in patients of laboratory confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Methods: This prospective data analysis was based on chart reviews for laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to ICUs over a 1-mo period. The NEWS2, CRB-65, qSOFA, and SIRS were calculated from the first recorded vital signs upon admission to ICU and assessed for predicting mortality. Results: Total of 140 patients aged between 18 and 95 y were included in the analysis of whom majority were >60 y (47.8%), with evidence of pre-existing comorbidities (67.1%). The most common symptom at presentation was dyspnea (86.4%). Based upon the receiver operating characteristics area under the curve (AUC), the best discriminatory powe...

Comparison of the accuracy of three early warning scores with SOFA score for predicting mortality in adult sepsis and septic shock patients admitted to intensive care unit

Heart & Lung, 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS), National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and Search Out Severity (SOS), with the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) and SOFA scores, to predict outcomes in sepsis patients. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in intensive care unit of university teaching hospital. Results: A total of 1,589 sepsis patients were enrolled. The SOFA score had the best accuracy to predict hospital mortality, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.880 followed by SOS (0.878), MEWS (0.858), qSOFA (0.847) and NEWS (0.833). The SOS score provided a similar performance with SOFA score in predicting mortality. Conclusion: The SOS presents nearly as good as the SOFA score, to predict mortality among sepsis patients admitted to the ICU. The early warning score is another, alternative tool to use for risk stratification and sepsis screening for ICU sepsis patients.