Shock Index as a Predictor of Hospital Admission and Inpatient Mortality in a United States National Database of Emergency Departments

Abstract

The shock index (SI), defined as the ratio of the heart rate to the systolic blood pressure, is used as a prognostic tool especially in trauma patients. However, there is scarcity of data regarding the use of the SI in the general emergency department population. Our main objective was to derive the probability of inpatient mortality and hospital admission based on the initial SI in the largest national database of emergency departments in the United States.