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Functional assessment of a series of paediatric patients receiving neurointensive treatment: New Functional status
P Madurga-Revilla1, J López-Pisón2, P Samper-Villagrasa3
1UCI Pediátrica, Hospital Infantil Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, España.
Insights
The new Functional Status Scale (FSS) offers a more objective and disaggregated assessment of functional health in pediatric intensive care than the traditional Paediatric Overall and Cerebral Performance Category (POPC, PCPC) scales.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Intensive Care
- Neurological Diseases
- Functional Health Assessment
Background:
- Functional health is crucial for assessing prognosis in pediatric intensive care units (PICU).
- Traditional scales like POPC and PCPC have limitations in objectivity.
- The Functional Status Scale (FSS) was developed for more precise functional health evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the new Functional Status Scale (FSS) against established POPC and PCPC scales.
- To assess the FSS's superiority in evaluating neurological function in pediatric patients.
- To confirm the FSS as a useful tool for functional health assessment in PICU.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective descriptive study of 266 children with neurological conditions admitted to intensive care.
- Evaluation of functional health at discharge and one year post-discharge.
- Utilized PCPC, POPC, and the new FSS for comprehensive assessment.
Main Results:
- FSS scores showed strong correlation with POPC scores (P<.001), except in coma/vegetative state.
- Increased dispersion of FSS values with higher POPC categories indicates greater detail.
- Neurological versions of FSS and POPC demonstrated similar correlation.
Conclusions:
- The FSS is a valuable and objective tool for assessing functional health in pediatric intensive care.
- The FSS provides a more disaggregated and accurate assessment compared to POPC-PCPC scales.
- FSS demonstrates superior accuracy and objectivity in evaluating pediatric functional and neurological status.
Introduction:
Functional health, a reliable parameter of the impact of disease, should be used systematically to assess prognosis in paediatric intensive care units (PICU). Developing scales for the assessment of functional health is therefore essential. The Paediatric Overall and Cerebral Performance Category (POPC, PCPC) scales have traditionally been used in paediatric studies. The new Functional Status Scale (FSS) was designed to provide more objective results. This study aims to confirm the validity of the FSS compared to the classic POPC and PCPC scales, and to evaluate whether it may also be superior to the latter in assessing of neurological function.
Patients And Method:
We conducted a retrospective descriptive study of 266 children with neurological diseases admitted to intensive care between 2012 and 2014. Functional health at discharge and at one year after discharge was evaluated using the PCPC and POPC scales and the new FSS.
Results:
Global FSS scores were found to be well correlated with all POPC scores (P<.001), except in category 5 (coma/vegetative state). Global FSS score dispersion increases with POPC category. The neurological versions of both scales show a similar correlation.
Discussion:
Comparison with classic POPC and PCPC categories suggests that the new FSS scale is a useful method for evaluating functional health in our setting. The dispersion of FSS values underlines the poor accuracy of POPC-PCPC compared to the new FSS scale, which is more disaggregated and objective.
