Objectives: To evaluate the predictive accuracy of the scoring system Rapid Acute Physiology score (RAPS) in nonsurgical patients attending the emergency department (ED) regarding in-hospital mortality and length of stay in hospital (LOS), and to investigate whether the predictive ability of RAPS could be improved by extending the system.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: An adult ED of a 1200-bed university hospital.
Subjects: A total of 12 006 nonsurgical patients presenting to the ED during 12 consecutive months.
Methods: For all entries to the ED, RAPS (including blood pressure, respiratory rate, pulse rate and Glasgow coma scale) was calculated. The RAPS system was extended by including the peripheral oxygen saturation and patient age (Rapid Emergency Medicine score, REMS) and this new score was calculated for each patient. The statistical associations between the two scoring systems and in-hospital mortality as well as LOS in hospital were examined.
Results: The REMS was superior to RAPS in predicting in-hospital mortality [area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve 0.852 +/- 0.014 SEM for REMS compared with 0.652 +/- 0.019 for RAPS, P < 0.05]. An increase of 1-point in the 26-point REMS scale was associated with an OR of 1.40 for in-hospital death (95% CI: 1.36-1.45, P < 0.0001). Similar results were obtained in the major patient groups (chest pain, stroke, coma, dyspnoea and diabetes), in all age groups and in both sexes. The association between REMS and LOS was modest (r = 0.47, P = 0.0001).
Conclusions: The REMS was a powerful predictor of in-hospital mortality in patients attending the ED over a wide range of common nonsurgical disorders.