Development and validation of CAVE score in predicting presence of pressure ulcer in intensive care patients

BACKGROUND: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are one of the quality care indicators in nursing care. They are considered to primarily be preventable. Early identification of the patients most at risk particular for critically ill patients is crucial for providing prompt care. Several tools have been developed to support healthcare providers, but their validities are limited in Thailand. Development of tools with better performance is essential. AIMS: To develop and validate a PU risk assessment tool with good diagnostic properties in intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in ICUs of a tertiary care hospital, Thailand from January 2019 to April 2020. Baseline data were collected at admission to the ICUs. Skin assessment was evaluated every 24 h. Data were divided into two sets: model development and model validation. Creating a risk score which was derived from multivariate methods were performed. Youden index were used to determine the optimal cut-off point. Then, the other dataset was used to validate the risk score. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves was used to demonstrate the performance of the test. RESULTS: The study included 288 and 270 patients for development and validation models. The risk score consisted 4 clinical factors; presence of Cardiovascular disease, low serum Albumin, having Ventilated, and Edema (CAVE score). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.8 and a score at 2.5 was the best cut-off point. The AUC in the validation group was 0.6, age<60 years was 0.78, and age≥60 years was 0.57. CONCLUSION: The predictive validity of the CAVE score is limited but comparable to the existing tools in Thailand. However, it has a good diagnostic property in young patients. The CAVE score could be considered as an alternate screening tool in critical care setting particularly for young patients.