Patient selection: pediatric patient from 3 months to 16 years with a respiratory infection and cough
Outcome: outpatient antibiotic therapy to reduce risk of hospital admission
S: short illness (<= 3 days)
T: temperature >= 37.8°C at presentation or parent-reported severe fever in past 24 hours
A: age < 2 years
R: recession of intercostal or subcostal areas on clinical exam
W: wheeze on auscultation
A: asthma, current
V: vomiting moderate or severe in the previous 24 hours
Each item was scored 1 point if present and 0 if absent.
total score =
= SUM(points for all 7 items)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 7
• The higher the score the more likely that the child would be admitted to the hospital.
• A child considered low risk for hospital admission may not benefit from antibiotic therapy.
|
Score
|
Risk of Hospital Admission
|
|
0 or 1
|
low (0.3%)
|
|
2 or 3
|
normal (1.5%)
|
|
4 to 7
|
high (16%)
|
Performance:
• The area under the ROC curve is 0.82.
