Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35135770›Full record

Observational studyBMJ open2022

Evaluation of NEWS2 response thresholds in a retrospective observational study from a UK acute hospital.

Tanya Pankhurst, Elizabeth Sapey, Helen Gyves, Felicity Evison, Suzy Gallier, George Gkoutos, Simon Ball

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Explainable hierarchical clustering for patient subtyping and risk prediction.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2023
    Article
  5. Observational
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Tanya PankhurstRenal Medicine, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK.
Elizabeth SapeyInstitute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK e.sapey@bham.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-3454-5482
Helen GyvesHealth Informatics, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK.
Felicity EvisonHealth Informatics, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9378-7548
Suzy GallierHealth Informatics, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK.
George GkoutosUniversity of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Simon BallBetter Care, Health Data Research, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-7410-5268
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust · GBUniversity of Birmingham · GBHealth Data Research UK · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_PC_21015Medical Research Council MR/L008335/1Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveUse of National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) has been mandated in adults admitted to acute hospitals in England. Urgent clinical review is recommended at NEWS2 ≥5. This policy is recognised as requiring ongoing evaluation. We assessed NEWS2 acquisition, alerting at key thresholds and patient outcomes, to understand how response recommendations would affect clinical resource allocation.

settingAdult acute hospital in England.

designRetrospective observational cohort study.

participants100 362 consecutive admissions between November 2018 and July 2019. OUTCOME: Death or admission to intensive care unit within 24 hours of a score.

methodsNEWS2 were assembled as single scores from consecutive 24-hour time frames, (the first NEWS2 termed 'Index-NEWS2'), or as all scores from the admission (termed All-NEWS2). Scores were excluded when a patient was in intensive care, in the presence of a decision not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or on day 1 of elective admission.

resultsA mean of 4.5 NEWS2 were acquired per patient per day. The outcome rate following an Index-NEWS2 was 0.22/100 patient-days. The sensitivity of outcome prediction at Index-NEWS2 ≥5=0.46, and number needed to evaluate (NNE)=52. At this threshold, a mean of 37.6 alerts/100 patient-days would be generated, occurring in 12.3% of patients on any single day. Threshold changes to increase sensitivity by 0.1, would result in a twofold increase in alert rate and 1.5-fold increase in NNE. Overall, NEWS2 classification performance was significantly worse on Index-scores than All-scores (c-statistic=0.78 vs 0.85; p<0.001).

conclusionsThe combination of low event-rate, high alert-rate and low sensitivity, in patients for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, means that at current NEWS2 thresholds, resource demand would be sufficient to meaningfully compete with other pathways to clinical evaluation. In analyses that epitomise in-patient screening, NEWS2 performance suggests a need for re-evaluation of current response recommendations in this population.

Indexed as

Early Warning ScoreAdultHospitalsHumansIntensive Care UnitsRetrospective StudiesUnited Kingdomhealth informaticshealth policyinternal medicine

Identifiers

PMID35135770
PMCPMC8830252
OpenAlexW4210917222

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.