Accuracy and external validation of the modified rapid emergency medicine score in road traffic injuries in a Bangkok level I trauma center

BACKGROUND: Trauma is a significant public health problem. Therefore, many injury scores have been created to predict mortality and triage patients. This study aims to validate the modified Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (mREMS) for in-hospital mortality prediction in road traffic injuries and compare the mREMS with the revised trauma score (RTS) and the mechanisms, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), age, and arterial pressure (MGAP) score. METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected from the Vajira Hospital (1,033 cases). The mREMS was calculated from six predictors: age, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, pulse oxygen saturation, and GCS. The receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. The AUC and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the mREMS were compared with the AUCs of other scores. Model calibration was assessed using the Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. RESULTS: The mREMS was significantly better than the RTS at predicting death in road traffic injury patients [mREMS: AUCs, 0.909 (95% CI, 0.866–0.951); RTS: AUCs, 0.859 (95% CI, 0.791–0.927] (p = 0.023). However, the difference between the AUCs of the mREMS and MGAP score was not statistically significant (p = 0.150). The mREMS’ calibration performance was also satisfactory in this dataset based on the Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test (p = 0.277). CONCLUSION: In the road traffic injury population, the mREMS is an excellent predictor of in-hospital mortality. These results can be applied to improve triage. However, this score should be further validated in other trauma centers before nationwide implementation.