Investigating the Utility of the SOFA Score and Creating a Modified SOFA Score for Predicting Mortality in the Intensive Care Units in a Tertiary Hospital in Jordan

BACKGROUND: The utility of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score in predicting mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) has been demonstrated before, but serial testing in various settings is required to validate and improve the score. This study examined the utility of the SOFA score in predicting mortality in Jordanian ICU patients and aimed to find a modified score that required fewer laboratory tests. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted at Jordan University Hospital (JUH). All adult patients admitted to JUH ICUs between June and December 2020 were included in the study. SOFA scores were measured daily during the whole ICU stay. A modified SOFA score (mSOFA) was constructed from the available laboratory, clinical, and demographic data. The performance of the SOFA, mSOFA, qSOFA, and SIRS in predicting ICU mortality was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). RESULTS: 194 patients were followed up. SOFA score (mean ± SD) at admission was significantly higher in non-survivors (7.5 ± 3.9) compared to survivors (2.4 ± 2.2) and performed the best in predicting ICU mortality (AUROC = 0.8756, 95% CI: 0.8117–0.9395) compared to qSOFA (AUROC = 0.746, 95% CI: 0.655–0.836) and SIRS (AUROC = 0.533, 95% CI: 0.425–0.641). The constructed mSOFA included points for the hepatic and CNS SOFA scores, in addition to one point each for the presence of chronic kidney disease or the use of breathing support; it performed as well as the SOFA score in this cohort or better than the SOFA score in a subgroup of patients with heart disease. CONCLUSION: SOFA score was a good predictor of mortality in a Jordanian ICU population and better than qSOFA, while SIRS could not predict mortality. Furthermore, the proposed mSOFA score which employed fewer laboratory tests could be used after validation from larger studies.