Background
The unprecedented COVID‐19 pandemic has put a serious burden on the healthcare system worldwide. Due to varied manifestations of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, many scoring systems, which were earlier used for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) are in use to determine the disease severity and the need of ICU admissions for proper management. COVID‐19 is a relatively new disease and the validity of these scoring systems in SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is not completely known. This study aimed to validate these scoring systems in cases of COVID‐19 pneumonia in an Indian setup. The study has also tried to find the most accurate indicator of disease severity and 14‐day mortality among these scoring systems.
Materials and Methods
This study included 122 SARS‐CoV‐2 infected patients at a tertiary hospital in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The severity of the disease according to ICMR protocol for COVID‐19, the PSI/PORT score, the CURB‐65 score and the SCAP score were calculated in all the patients and analysed with the disease outcome, that is, 14‐day mortality.
Results
SCAP score, PSI/PORT score and CURB‐65 criteria, all were good indicators of disease severity and 14‐day mortality. However, when compared to other scoring systems, SCAP score was a more accurate marker of disease severity and 14‐day mortality.
Conclusion
The PSI/PORT scoring system, the CURB‐65 criteria and the SCAP scoring system can be used to assess the COVID‐19 severity and predict the 14‐day mortality risk in cases of COVID‐19 pneumonia.