Predictive value of SAPS II and APACHE II scoring systems for patient outcome in a medical intensive care unit

The aim is to determine SAPS II and APACHE II scores in medical intensive care unit (MICU) patients, to compare them for prediction of patient outcome, and to compare with actual hospital mortality rates for different subgroups of patients.

One hundred and seventy-four patients were included in this analysis over a oneyear period in the MICU, Clinical Center, University of Sarajevo. The following patient data were obtained: demographics, admission diagnosis, SAPS II, APACHE II scores and final outcome.

Out of 174 patients, 70 patients (40.2%) died. Mean SAPS II and APACHE II scores in all patients were 48.4±17.0 and 21.6±10.3 respectively, and they were significantly different between survivors and non-survivors. SAPS II >50.5 and APACHE II >27.5 can predict the risk of mortality in these patients. There was no statistically significant difference in the clinical values of SAPS II vs APACHE II (p=0.501). A statistically significant positive correlation was established between the values of SAPS II and APACHE II (r=0.708; p=0.001). Patients with an admission diagnosis of sepsis/septic shock had the highest values of both SAPS II and APACHE II scores, and also the highest hospital mortality rate of 55.1%.

Both APACHE II and SAPS II had an excellent ability to discriminate between survivors and non-survivors. There was no significant difference in the clinical values of SAPS II and APACHE II. A positive correlation was established between them. Sepsis/septic shock patients had the highest predicted and observed hospital mortality rate.