Prediction of in-hospital mortality: An adaptive severity-of-illness score for a tertiary ICU in South Africa

BACKGROUND: A scoring system based on physiological conditions was developed in 1984 to assess the severity of illness. This version, and subsequent versions, were labelled Simplified Acute Physiology Scores (SAPS). Each extension addressed limitations in the earlier version, with the SAPS III model using a data-driven approach. However, the SAPS III model did not include data collected from the African continent, thereby limiting the generalisation of the results. OBJECTIVES: To propose a scoring system for assessing severity of illness at intensive care unit (ICU) admission and a model for prediction of in-hospital mortality, based on the severity of illness score. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study which included patients who were admitted to an ICU in a South African tertiary hospital in 2017. Logistic regression modelling was used to develop the proposed scoring system, and the proposed mortality prediction model. RESULTS: The study included 829 patients. Less than a quarter of patients (21.35%; n=177) died during the study period. The proposed model exhibited good calibration and excellent discrimination. CONCLUSION: The proposed scoring system is able to assess severity of illness at ICU admission, while the proposed statistical model may be used in the prediction of in-hospital mortality. CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY: This study is the first to develop a model similar to the SAPS III model, based on data collected in South Africa. In addition, this study provides a potential starting point for the development of a model that can be used nationally.