Accuracy of SOFA Score to Predict Outcome in Community-Acquired Sepsis

Abstract

Background: The new definition of Sepsis-3 defines sepsis as life-threatening organ dysfunction, demonstrated by an increase in the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) of 2 or more points, caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. The performance of SOFA score data in a setting of a tertiary public hospital in a middle-income country remains limited. Objective: To determine the accuracy of the SOFA score to predict the 28-day mortality in community-acquired sepsis patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study enrolled community-acquired sepsis and septic shock patients admitted between January and December 2015 in Hatyai Hospital, a tertiary public Hospital in Southern Thailand. All variables for calculating the SOFA and qSOFA scores were collected. The primary outcome was the 28-day mortality. Results: Three hundred seventy-nine patients were enrolled. Eighty-seven patients (23%) died. The median (IQR) SOFA score was 6 (3, 9) points. The SOFA score had a fair predictive performance (AUROC 0.71, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.77), which was higher than qSOFA score (AUROC 0.67, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.73). The SOFA score of 2 points associated with mortality (13%) and higher score patients had an incremental increase mortality rate. The hazard ratio (HR) was 4.59 (95% Cl 1.3 to 15.78, p=0.02) for SOFA Score 6 to 7 points. Conclusion: Among patients presenting with community-acquired infection, the SOFA score indicated the fair predicting ability for the 28-day mortality and performed better than qSOFA score. Keywords: SOFA, qSOFA, Sepsis, Accuracy, Mortality, Community-acquired infection, Thailand