Development and an initial validation of the Responses to Illness Severity Quantification (RISQ) score for severely malnourished children.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

To develop and perform an initial validation of a score to measure the severity of illness in hospitalised children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

Methods

A prospective study enrolled SAM children aged 6-59 months hospitalised in Borno State, Nigeria. Candidate items associated with inpatient mortality were combined and evaluated as candidate scores. Clinical and statistical methods were used to identify a preferred score.

Results

The 513 children enrolled had a mean age of 15.6 months of whom 48 (9%) died. Seven of the 10 evaluated items were significantly associated with mortality. Five different candidate scores were tested. The final score, Responses to Illness Severity Quantification (RISQ), included seven items: heart rate, respiratory rate, respirato

SUBMITTER: Dale NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9545493 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature