Performance evaluation and validation of the Animal Trauma Triage score and modified Glasgow Coma Scale in injured cats: A Veterinary Committee on Trauma registry study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES To examine the Animal Trauma Triage (ATT) and modified Glasgow Coma Scale (mGCS) scores as predictors of mortality in injured cats. DESIGN Observational cohort study conducted September 2013 to March 2015. SETTING Nine Level I and II veterinary trauma centers. ANIMALS Consecutive sample of 711 cats reported on the Veterinary Committee on Trauma (VetCOT) case registry. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We compared the predictive power (area under receiver operating characteristic curve; AUROC) and calibration of the ATT and mGCS scores to their components. Overall mortality risk was 16.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.9-19.4). Head trauma prevalence was 11.8% (n = 84). The ATT score showed a linear relationship with mortality risk. Discriminatory performance of the ATT score was excellent (AUROC = 0.87 [95% CI, 0.84-0.90]). Each ATT score increase of 1 point was associated with an increase in mortality odds of 1.78 (95% CI, 1.61-1.97, P < 0.001). The eye/muscle/integument category of the ATT showed the lowest discrimination (AUROC = 0.60). When this component, skeletal, and cardiac components were omitted from score calculation, there was no loss in discriminatory capacity compared with the full score (AUROC = 0.86 vs 0.87, respectively, P = 0.66). The mGCS showed fair performance overall for prediction of mortality, but the point estimate of performance improved when restricted to head trauma patients (AUROC = 0.75, 95% CI, 0.70-0.80 vs AUROC = 0.80, 95% CI, 0.70-0.90). The motor component of the mGCS showed the best predictive performance (AUROC = 0.71); however, the full score performed better than the motor component alone (P = 0.004). When assessment was restricted to patients with head injury (n = 84), there was no difference in performance between the ATT and mGCS scores (AUROC = 0.82 vs 0.80, P = 0.67). CONCLUSION On a large, multicenter dataset of feline trauma patients, the ATT score showed excellent discrimination and calibration for predicting mortality; however, an abbreviated score calculated from the perfusion, respiratory, and neurologic categories showed equivalent performance.