1
|
Kumwenda M, Assies R, Snik I, Chatima G, Langton J, Chimalizeni Y, Romaine ST, van Woensel JB, Pallmann P, Carrol ED, Calis JC. Identifying critically ill children in Malawi: A modified qSOFA score for low-resource settings. PLOS Glob Public Health 2024; 4:e0002388. [PMID: 38271303 PMCID: PMC10810502 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
In low-resource settings, a reliable bedside score for timely identification of children at risk of dying, could help focus resources and improve survival. The rapid bedside Liverpool quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (LqSOFA) uses clinical parameters only and performed well in United Kingdom cohorts. A similarly quick clinical assessment-only score has however not yet been developed for paediatric populations in sub-Saharan Africa. In a development cohort of critically ill children in Malawi, we calculated the LqSOFA scores using age-adjusted heart rate and respiratory rate, capillary refill time and Blantyre Coma Scale, and evaluated its prognostic performance for mortality. An improved score, the Blantyre qSOFA (BqSOFA), was developed (omitting heart rate, adjusting respiratory rate cut-off values and adding pallor), subsequently validated in a second cohort of Malawian children, and compared with an existing score (FEAST-PET). Prognostic performance for mortality was evaluated using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Mortality was 15.4% in the development (N = 493) and 22.0% in the validation cohort (N = 377). In the development cohort, discriminative ability (AUC) of the LqSOFA to predict mortality was 0.68 (95%-CI: 0.60-0.76). The BqSOFA and FEAST-PET yielded AUCs of 0.84 (95%-CI:0.79-0.89) and 0.83 (95%-CI:0.77-0.89) in the development cohort, and 0.74 (95%-CI:0.68-0.79) and 0.76 (95%-CI:0.70-0.82) in the validation cohort, respectively. We developed a simple prognostic score for Malawian children based on four clinical parameters which performed as well as a more complex score. The BqSOFA might be used to promptly identify critically ill children at risk of dying and prioritize hospital care in low-resource settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mercy Kumwenda
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi
| | - Roxanne Assies
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
- Department of Global Health and PICU, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health, Global Health and Quality of Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ilse Snik
- Department of Global Health and PICU, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Gloria Chatima
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Josephine Langton
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Yamikani Chimalizeni
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
| | - Sam T. Romaine
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Job B.M. van Woensel
- Department of Global Health and PICU, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health, Global Health and Quality of Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Philip Pallmann
- Centre for Trials Research, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Enitan D. Carrol
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Job C.J. Calis
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
- Department of Global Health and PICU, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Amsterdam Public Health, Global Health and Quality of Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Nijman RG, Oostenbrink R, Moll HA, Casals-Pascual C, von Both U, Cunnington A, De T, Eleftheriou I, Emonts M, Fink C, van der Flier M, de Groot R, Kaforou M, Kohlmaier B, Kuijpers TW, Lim E, Maconochie IK, Paulus S, Martinon-Torres F, Pokorn M, Romaine ST, Calle IR, Schlapbach LJ, Smit FJ, Tsolia M, Usuf E, Wright VJ, Yeung S, Zavadska D, Zenz W, Levin M, Herberg JA, Carrol ED. A Novel Framework for Phenotyping Children With Suspected or Confirmed Infection for Future Biomarker Studies. Front Pediatr 2021; 9:688272. [PMID: 34395340 PMCID: PMC8356564 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2021.688272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: The limited diagnostic accuracy of biomarkers in children at risk of a serious bacterial infection (SBI) might be due to the imperfect reference standard of SBI. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a new classification algorithm for biomarker discovery in children at risk of SBI. Methods: We used data from five previously published, prospective observational biomarker discovery studies, which included patients aged 0- <16 years: the Alder Hey emergency department (n = 1,120), Alder Hey pediatric intensive care unit (n = 355), Erasmus emergency department (n = 1,993), Maasstad emergency department (n = 714) and St. Mary's hospital (n = 200) cohorts. Biomarkers including procalcitonin (PCT) (4 cohorts), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin-2 (NGAL) (3 cohorts) and resistin (2 cohorts) were compared for their ability to classify patients according to current standards (dichotomous classification of SBI vs. non-SBI), vs. a proposed PERFORM classification algorithm that assign patients to one of eleven categories. These categories were based on clinical phenotype, test outcomes and C-reactive protein level and accounted for the uncertainty of final diagnosis in many febrile children. The success of the biomarkers was measured by the Area under the receiver operating Curves (AUCs) when they were used individually or in combination. Results: Using the new PERFORM classification system, patients with clinically confident bacterial diagnosis ("definite bacterial" category) had significantly higher levels of PCT, NGAL and resistin compared with those with a clinically confident viral diagnosis ("definite viral" category). Patients with diagnostic uncertainty had biomarker concentrations that varied across the spectrum. AUCs were higher for classification of "definite bacterial" vs. "definite viral" following the PERFORM algorithm than using the "SBI" vs. "non-SBI" classification; summary AUC for PCT was 0.77 (95% CI 0.72-0.82) vs. 0.70 (95% CI 0.65-0.75); for NGAL this was 0.80 (95% CI 0.69-0.91) vs. 0.70 (95% CI 0.58-0.81); for resistin this was 0.68 (95% CI 0.61-0.75) vs. 0.64 (0.58-0.69) The three biomarkers combined had summary AUC of 0.83 (0.77-0.89) for "definite bacterial" vs. "definite viral" infections and 0.71 (0.67-0.74) for "SBI" vs. "non-SBI." Conclusion: Biomarkers of bacterial infection were strongly associated with the diagnostic categories using the PERFORM classification system in five independent cohorts. Our proposed algorithm provides a novel framework for phenotyping children with suspected or confirmed infection for future biomarker studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ruud G. Nijman
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Pediatric Accident and Emergency, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rianne Oostenbrink
- Department of General Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Henriette A. Moll
- Department of General Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Climent Casals-Pascual
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Biomedical Diagnostic Centre, Barcelona, Spain
- ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ulrich von Both
- Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
- German Centre for Infection Research, DZIF, Partner Site Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Aubrey Cunnington
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tisham De
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Irini Eleftheriou
- Second Department of Pediatrics, P. and A. Kyriakou Children's Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Marieke Emonts
- Pediatric Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Allergy Department, Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- National Institute for Health Research Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre Based at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Colin Fink
- Micropathology Ltd., Warwick, United Kingdom
| | - Michiel van der Flier
- Section Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Radboud Centre for Infectious Diseases, Amalia Children's Hospital, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Ronald de Groot
- Section Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Radboud Centre for Infectious Diseases, Amalia Children's Hospital, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Myrsini Kaforou
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Benno Kohlmaier
- Department of General Pediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Taco W. Kuijpers
- Department of Pediatric Immunology, Rheumatology and Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Landsteiner Laboratory at the Amsterdam Medical Centre, Sanquin Research Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Emma Lim
- Pediatric Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Allergy Department, Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Ian K. Maconochie
- Department of Pediatric Accident and Emergency, Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stephane Paulus
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, John Radcliffe, University of Oxford, Level 2, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Federico Martinon-Torres
- Genetics, Vaccines, Infections and Pediatrics Research Group, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Marko Pokorn
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Univerzitetni Klinični Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Sam T. Romaine
- Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Irene Rivero Calle
- Genetics, Vaccines, Infections and Pediatrics Research Group, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Luregn J. Schlapbach
- Department of Intensive Care and Neonatology, Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Frank J. Smit
- Department of Pediatrics, Maasstad Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Maria Tsolia
- German Centre for Infection Research, DZIF, Partner Site Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Effua Usuf
- Child Survival, Medical Research Council: The Gambia Unit, Fajara, Gambia
| | - Victoria J. Wright
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Shunmay Yeung
- Faculty of Tropical and Infectious Disease, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Dace Zavadska
- Department of Pediatrics, Children Clinical University Hospital, Rigas Stradina Universitāte, Riga, Latvia
| | - Werner Zenz
- Department of General Pediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Michael Levin
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jethro A. Herberg
- Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Enitan D. Carrol
- Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Liverpool Health Partners, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Romaine ST, Sefton G, Lim E, Nijman RG, Bernatoniene J, Clark S, Schlapbach LJ, Pallmann P, Carrol ED. Performance of seven different paediatric early warning scores to predict critical care admission in febrile children presenting to the emergency department: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ Open 2021; 11:e044091. [PMID: 33947731 PMCID: PMC8098996 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Paediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWS) are widely used in the UK, but the heterogeneity across tools and the limited data on their predictive performance represent obstacles to improving best practice. The standardisation of practice through the proposed National PEWS will rely on robust validation. Therefore, we compared the performance of the National PEWS with six other PEWS currently used in NHS hospitals, for their ability to predict critical care (CC) admission in febrile children attending the emergency department (ED). DESIGN Retrospective single-centre cohort study. SETTING Tertiary hospital paediatric ED. PARTICIPANTS A total of 11 449 eligible febrile ED attendances were identified from the electronic patient record over a 2-year period. Seven PEWS scores were calculated (Alder Hey, Bedside, Bristol, National, Newcastle and Scotland PEWS, and the Paediatric Observation Priority Score, using the worst observations recorded during their ED stay. OUTCOMES The primary outcome was CC admission within 48 hours, the secondary outcomes were hospital length of stay (LOS) >48 hours and sepsis-related mortality. RESULTS Of 11 449 febrile children, 134 (1.2%) were admitted to CC within 48 hours of ED presentation, 606 (5.3%) had a hospital LOS >48 hours. 10 (0.09%) children died, 5 (0.04%) were sepsis-related. All seven PEWS demonstrated excellent discrimination for CC admission (range area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) 0.91-0.95) and sepsis-related mortality (range AUC 0.95-0.99), most demonstrated moderate discrimination for hospital LOS (range AUC 0.69-0.75). In CC admission threshold analyses, bedside PEWS (AUC 0.90; 95% CI 0.86 to 0.93) and National PEWS (AUC 0.90; 0.87-0.93) were the most discriminative, both at a threshold of ≥6. CONCLUSIONS Our results support the use of the proposed National PEWS in the paediatric ED for the recognition of suspected sepsis to improve outcomes, but further validation is required in other settings and presentations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sam T Romaine
- Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Gerri Sefton
- Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
| | - Emma Lim
- Paediatric Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Allergy, Great North Children's Hospital, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Ruud G Nijman
- Section of Paediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Jolanta Bernatoniene
- Paediatric Infectious Disease Department, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK
| | - Simon Clark
- The Jessop Wing Neonatal Unit, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK
| | - Luregn J Schlapbach
- Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- Children's Research Center, Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, University Children's Hospital Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Philip Pallmann
- College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, UK
| | - Enitan D Carrol
- Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Romaine ST, Potter J, Khanijau A, McGalliard RJ, Wright JL, Sefton G, Leigh S, Edwardson K, Johnston P, Kerr A, Schlapbach LJ, Pallmann P, Carrol ED. Accuracy of a Modified qSOFA Score for Predicting Critical Care Admission in Febrile Children. Pediatrics 2020; 146:peds.2020-0782. [PMID: 32978294 PMCID: PMC7786830 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2020-0782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The identification of life-threatening infection in febrile children presenting to the emergency department (ED) remains difficult. The quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) was only derived for adult populations, implying an urgent need for pediatric scores. We developed and validated a novel, adapted qSOFA score (Liverpool quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [LqSOFA]) and compared its performance with qSOFA, Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS), and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) high-risk criteria in predicting critical care (CC) admission in febrile children presenting to the ED. METHODS The LqSOFA (range, 0-4) incorporates age-adjusted heart rate, respiratory rate, capillary refill, and consciousness level on the Alert, Voice, Pain, Unresponsive scale. The primary outcome was CC admission within 48 hours of ED presentation, and the secondary outcome was sepsis-related mortality. LqSOFA, qSOFA, PEWS, and NICE high-risk criteria scores were calculated, and performance characteristics, including area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, were calculated for each score. RESULTS In the initial (n = 1121) cohort, 47 CC admissions (4.2%) occurred, and in the validation (n = 12 241) cohort, 135 CC admissions (1.1%) occurred, and there were 5 sepsis-related deaths. In the validation cohort, LqSOFA predicted CC admission with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.81 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76 to 0.86), versus qSOFA (0.66; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.71), PEWS (0.93; 95% CI, 0.90 to 0.95), and NICE high-risk criteria (0.81; 95% CI, 0.78 to 0.85). For predicting CC admission, the LqSOFA outperformed the qSOFA, with a net reclassification index of 10.4% (95% CI, 1.0% to 19.9%). CONCLUSIONS In this large study, we demonstrate improved performance of the LqSOFA over qSOFA in identifying febrile children at risk for CC admission and sepsis-related mortality. Further validation is required in other settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica Potter
- Institute of Infection and Global Health and,School of Medicine, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | | | - Simon Leigh
- Institute of Infection and Global Health and
| | | | | | - Anne Kerr
- Emergency Department, Alder Hey Children’s National Health Service Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Luregn J. Schlapbach
- Paediatric Critical Care Research Group, Child Health Research Centre, The University of Queensland and Paediatric ICU, Queensland Children’s Hospital, South Brisbane, Australia
| | - Philip Pallmann
- Centre for Trials Research, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; and
| | - Enitan D. Carrol
- Institute of Infection and Global Health and,Department of Infectious Diseases,,Liverpool Health Partners, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|