Evaluation of the Initial General Ward Early Warning Score and ICU Admission, Hospital Length of Stay and Mortality

Introduction: Despite widespread implementation of the Early Warning Score (EWS) in hospitals, its effect on patient outcomes remains mostly unknown. We aimed to evaluate associations between the initial EWS and in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and hospital length of stay (LOS). Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of adult patients admitted to a general hospital ward between July 1, 2014 –December 31, 2017. Data were obtained from electronic health records (EHR). The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were ICU admission and hospital LOS. We categorized patients into three risk groups (low, medium or high risk of clinical deterioration) based on EWS. Desc riptive analyses were used.Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, we included 53,180 patients...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: research