Serial Evaluation of the SOFA Score to Predict Outcome in Critically Ill Patients

Abstract

Outcome prediction is important both in clinical and administrative intensive care unit (ICU) management.¹ Although outcome prediction and measurement should not be the only measure of ICU performance, outcome prediction can be usefully applied to monitor the performance of an individual ICU and possibly to compare ICUs. Outcome prediction can also be useful in providing information on likely patient outcomes for relatives of critically ill patients and potentially for therapeutic decision making and guiding resource allocation. Outcome prediction models currently available have not been validated for use in directing individual patient management.²