Predictive value of qSOFA and hypothermia combined with PT for prognosis in patients with severe trauma: a single-center retrospective cohort study

Background: Trauma represents a significant global health challenge.The development of an effective scoring tool capable of predicting mortality risk in trauma cases is essential. This study aimed to investigate the combined effects of quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) and hypothermia (H) along with prothrombin time (PT) in predicting the prognosis of patients with severe trauma.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze data from severe trauma patients in the Trauma Database of the Trauma Center at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University between January 2017 and December 2021. Patients were categorized into survival and non-survival groups based on clinical outcomes. Baseline and clinical data were compared between the groups, and prognostic factors were explored using logistic regression analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves generated by 10-fold cross-validation using the caret in R programming language were used to assess the predictive efficacy of Injury Severity Score (ISS) and qSOFA + H + PT score for trauma patient mortality.

Results: A total of 509 severe trauma patients (377 males and 132 females) were included, with a median age of 53 years (range: 42-65 years). The mortality rate was found to be 23.4%. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, ISS, and qSOFA + H + PT were significant predictors of death in severe trauma patients, with odds ratios of 1.035 (95%CI:1.014-1.057), 1.052 (95%CI:1.017-1.090), and 6.124 (95%CI:3.107-12.072), respectively (P < 0.05). The predictive efficacy of ISS and qSOFA + H + PT for mortality prediction was 0.742 and 0.816, respectively.The predictive efficacy of qSOFA + H + PT for emergency blood transfusion and operation was 0.743 and 0.702.

Conclusion: qSOFA + H + PT are identified as significant predictors to the death of severe trauma patients. They could be utilized as early intervention indicators in emergency departments, facilitating clinical management strategies such as emergency blood transfusion, emergency operation, and prognosis prediction.