Introduction of Pediatric Physiological and Anatomical Triage Score in Mass-Casualty Incident

Abstract

Background: Triage has an important role in providing suitable care to the largest number of casualties in a disaster setting, but there are no secondary triage methods suitable for children. This study developed a new secondary triage method named the Pediatric Physiological and Anatomical Triage Score (PPATS) and compared its accuracy with current triage methods.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of pediatric patients under 16 years old transferred to an emergency center from 2014 to 2016 was performed. The PPATS categorized the patients, defined the intensive care unit (ICU)-indicated patients if the category was highest, and compared the accuracy of prediction of ICU-indicated patients among PPATS, Physiological and Anatomical Triage (PAT), and Triage Revised Trauma Score (TRTS).

Results: Among 137 patients, 24 (17.5%) were admitted to ICU. The median PPATS score of these patients was significantly higher than that of patients not admitted to ICU (11 [IQR: 9-13] versus three [IQR: 2-4]; P<.001). The optimal cut-off value of the PPTAS was six, yielding a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 95.8%, 86.7%, 60.5%, and 99.0%. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) was larger for PPTAS than for PAT or TRTS (0.95 [95% CI, 0.87-1.00] versus 0.65 [95% CI, 0.58-0.72]; P<.001 and 0.79 [95% CI, 0.69-0.89]; P=.003, respectively). Regression analysis showed a significant association between the PPATS and the predicted mortality rate (r2=0.139; P<.001), ventilation time (r2=0.320; P<.001), ICU stay (r2=0.362; P<.001), and hospital stay (r2=0.308; P<.001).

Conclusions: The accuracy of PPATS was superior to other methods for secondary triage of children. Toida C , Muguruma T , Abe T , Shinohara M , Gakumazawa M , Yogo N , Shirasawa A , Morimura N . Introduction of pediatric physiological and anatomical triage score in mass-casualty incident. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):147-152.

Keywords: AUC area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve; GCS Glasgow Coma Score; HR heart rate; ICU intensive care unit; NPV negative predictive value; PAT Physiological and Anatomical Triage; PPATS Pediatric Physiological and Anatomical Triage Score; PPV positive predictive value; RR respiratory rate; START Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment; TRTS Triage Revised Trauma Score; sBP systolic blood pressure; critically ill children; mass-casualty incident; physiological and anatomical triage; secondary triage; triage revised trauma score.