Day‐1 PELOD‐2 and day‐1 “quick” PELOD‐2 scores in children with sepsis in the PICU

Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the day‐1 PELOD‐2 and day‐1 “quick” PELOD‐2 (qPELOD‐2) scores for in‐hospital mortality in children with sepsis in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a developing country.

Methods

The data of 516 children diagnosed as sepsis were retrospectively analyzed. The children were divided into survival group and non‐survival group, according to the clinical outcome 28 days after admission. Day‐1 PELOD‐2, day‐1 qPELOD‐2, pediatric SOFA (pSOFA), and P‐MODS were collected and scored. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted, and the efficiency of the day‐1 PELOD‐2, day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, pSOFA, and P‐MODS for predicting death were evaluated by the area under the ROC curve (AUC).

Results

The day‐1 PELOD‐2 score, day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, pSOFA, and P‐MODS in the non‐survivor group were significantly higher than those in the survivor group. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUCs of the day‐1 PELOD‐2 score, day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, pSOFA, and P‐MODS for predicting the prognosis of children with sepsis in the PICU were 0.916, 0.802, 0.937, and 0.761, respectively (all p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Both the day‐1 PELOD‐2 score and day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score were effective and able to assess the prognosis of children with sepsis in a PICU of a developing country. Additionally, the day‐1 PELOD‐2 score was superior to the day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score. Further studies are needed to verify the usefulness of the day‐1 qPELOD‐2 score, particularly outside of the PICU.