Score at the Door: A retrospective data analysis of sepsis scoring criteria in the Emergency Department

The goal of this study was to assess the availability of the criteria of eight sepsis scoring methods (SIRS, NEWS, PRESEP, SOFA, qSOFA, SPEED, MEDS, and PIRO) within six hours of triage in the emergency department (ED). Data was analyzed through a retrospective collection of adult (age >18 years) patients presenting to the MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) emergency department between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018 and admitted with a sepsis or sepsis-related diagnosis that progressed to sepsis before discharge. Vital signs are frequently available upon arrival to the ED, while laboratory values tend to be available within three hours and often are not repeated again within the first six hours after arrival. The availability of patient data at different time points in a patient's ED visit suggests that different scoring methods could be utilized to more effectively diagnose and accurately risk-stratify patients within the sepsis spectrum as more information about the patient becomes available.