Establishment and Validation of a Prediction Equation to Estimate Risk of Intraoperative Hypothermia in Patients Receiving General Anesthesia

Inadvertent intraoperative hypothermia (core temperature <36 °C) is a frequent but preventable complication of general anesthesia. Accurate risk assessment of individual patients may help physicians identify patients at risk for hypothermia and apply preventive approaches, which include active intraoperative warming. This study aimed to develop and validate a risk-prediction model for intraoperative hypothermia. Two independent observational studies in China, the Beijing Regional Survey and the China National Survey, were conducted in 2013 and 2014, respectively, to determine the incidence of hypothermia and its underlying risk factors. In this study, using data from these two studies, we first derived a risk calculation equation, estimating the predictive risk of hypothermia using National Survey data (3132 patients), then validated the equation using the Beijing Regional Survey data (830 patients). Measures of accuracy, discrimination and calibration were calculated in the validation data set. Through validation, this model, named Predictors Score, had sound overall accuracy (Brier Score = 0.211), good discrimination (C-Statistic = 0.759) and excellent calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow, P = 0.5611). We conclude that the Predictors Score is a valid predictor of the risk of operative hypothermia and can be used in deciding whether intraoperative warming is a cost-effective measure in preventing the hypothermia.