A Study of the Outcome of Critically Ill Elderly Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital Using SOFA Score

With a rapidly rising geriatric population, the magnitude of elderly patients requiring intensive care is a major cause of concern. Data on critically ill geriatric patients is scarce, especially in developing countries.

The aim of the study is to identify the etiology, clinical profile, and outcome in elderly patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and to predict their survival using the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score.

A prospective observational study was performed over a period of 18 months with analysis of 100 patients admitted to the ICU, above the age of 60 years, with multi-organ dysfunction. The outcome of discharge or death was studied using the SOFA score on admission, on day 2, and the delta SOFA score.

In this study of 100 patients, 88% of patients were in the 60-70 years age-group. The number of male and female patients was equal. Seventy percent of patients had comorbidities, of which hypertension was most common. The two most common etiologies were acute febrile illness and pneumonia. The use of mechanical ventilation, inotropic support, and serum creatinine has a significant association with the outcome. The SOFA score at admission did not have a significant association, but the score at 48 hours and delta SOFA score co-related with the outcome of the patients. Sixty-four patients got discharged; thus, there was a survival rate of 64%.

The SOFA score at 48 hours is the most sensitive predictor of outcome, followed closely by the delta SOFA score, as compared to the SOFA score on admission, for critically ill elderly patients. There is a significant association of use of mechanical ventilation, inotropic support, and serum creatinine with the outcome.

Chopra S, Pednekar S, Karnik ND, Londhe C, Pandey D. A Study of the Outcome of Critically Ill Elderly Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital Using SOFA Score. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(6):655-659.