Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment to identify clinical deterioration in adults with COVID-19: a retrospective cohort

Objective: to evaluate the performance of qSOFA in identifying deterioration in patients with COVID-19. Method: retrospective cohort study conducted between February and August 2020 in the Emergency Department of a private hospital, involving 813 adults. The variables studied included sociodemographic data, clinical characteristics, deterioration, qSOFA on admission and before the event, and outcomes. The performance of qSOFA at both moments was analyzed using the area under the ROC curve. Results: the average age was 69 years. There was a predominance of men (61.5%), white (97.2%), catholic (73.7%), married (89.6%) and employed (66%). Comorbidities were present in 69.7%, and 58.8% were classified as “urgent” upon admission. The most frequent deterioration was respiratory failure (16.7%), and the outcome was discharge (68%). Patients with positive qSOFA on admission had a higher percentage of respiratory failure, cardiopulmonary arrest, and “very urgent” risk classification, and those with negative qSOFA showed a higher percentage of discharge (p< 0.0001). Upon admission, qSOFA showed 66% sensitivity and 55% specificity, and prior to the event it showed 48% sensitivity and 88% specificity for identifying clinical deterioration. Patients with positive qSOFA on admission were 350 times more likely to experience deterioration. Conclusion: qSOFA showed low sensitivity for identifying deterioration at both moments and high specificity before the event.