The ROX, shock and diastolic shock indexes in the prediction of mortality in COVID-19

The aim of this study is to determine the role of Respiratory Rate Oxygenation (ROX), shock, and diastolic shock indexes ​​in predicting mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients admitted to the emergency department.

The COVID-19 spread worldwide in a short time and caused a major pandemic. The ROX, shock, and diastolic shock indexes are used in various life-threatening clinical situations. The use of these indexes in triage at emergency departments can accelerate the determination of COVID-19 patients' severity.

The ROX, shock and diastolic shock indices were calculated and recorded. Patients were divided into three groups; 1) who were discharged from the hospital, 2) who were admitted to the hospital and 3) who were admitted to the intensive care unit.

Increased diastolic shock index and decreased ROX index were found to be independent risk factors for mortality. In the prediction of mortality, the sensitivity and specificity of the diastolic shock index were 61.2% and 60.8%, respectively. However, the sensitivity and specificity of ROX index was 73.1% and 71.5%, respectively.

In conclusion, we found that the ROX index had higher sensitivity and specificity than other indexes in predicting mortality in the evaluation of COVID-19 patients (Tab. 3, Fig. 2, Ref. 18).