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. 2021 Mar 25;10(7):1362.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10071362.

The GERtality Score: The Development of a Simple Tool to Help Predict in-Hospital Mortality in Geriatric Trauma Patients

Julian Scherer  1 , Yannik Kalbas  1 , Franziska Ziegenhain  1 , Valentin Neuhaus  1 , Rolf Lefering  2 , Michel Teuben  1 , Kai Sprengel  1 , Hans-Christoph Pape  1 , Kai Oliver Jensen  1
Affiliations

The GERtality Score: The Development of a Simple Tool to Help Predict in-Hospital Mortality in Geriatric Trauma Patients

Julian Scherer et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Feasible and predictive scoring systems for severely injured geriatric patients are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a scoring system for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in severely injured geriatric trauma patients. The TraumaRegister DGU® (TR-DGU) was utilized. European geriatric patients (≥65 years) admitted between 2008 and 2017 were included. Relevant patient variables were implemented in the GERtality score. By conducting a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, a comparison with the Geriatric Trauma Outcome Score (GTOS) and the Revised Injury Severity Classification II (RISC-II) Score was performed. A total of 58,055 geriatric trauma patients (mean age: 77 years) were included. Univariable analysis led to the following variables: age ≥ 80 years, need for packed red blood cells (PRBC) transfusion prior to intensive care unit (ICU), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score ≥ 3, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤ 13, Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) in any body region ≥ 4. The maximum GERtality score was 5 points. A mortality rate of 72.4% was calculated in patients with the maximum GERtality score. Mortality rates of 65.1 and 47.5% were encountered in patients with GERtality scores of 4 and 3 points, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of the novel GERtality score was 0.803 (GTOS: 0.784; RISC-II: 0.879). The novel GERtality score is a simple and feasible score that enables an adequate prediction of the probability of mortality in polytraumatized geriatric patients by using only five specific parameters.

Keywords: AIS; ISS; geriatric patients; geriatric trauma; orthogeriatric; polytrauma; scoring.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inclusion flow of selected patients from the TraumaRegister DGU® (TR-DGU). PRBC, Packed Red Blood Cells.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relevant variables for the GERtality score. ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists, GCS, Glasgow Coma Scale.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Observed in-hospital mortality rate based on GERtality score calculation.
Figure 4
Figure 4
ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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