Accuracy of Pediatric new poisoning mortality score versus poisoning severity score in prediction of in-hospital mortality of acutely poisoned children admitted to Pediatric intensive care unit.

Acute pediatric poisoning is a severe global public health issue that represents a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatrics. The study discussed the accuracy rate of the new PMS to be applied to pediatric acutely poisoned patients after modification to be called the pediatric new poisoning mortality score (pediatric new-PMS) and compared it to the poisoning severity score (PSS). The study was conducted on acutely pediatric intoxicated patients admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) during the period from January 2021 to January 2024 (181 cases). 48.6% of cases were males, and 51.4% were females; the median age was 5 years. Regarding the fate of cases, 65.2% recovered completely, 16.57% recovered with a complicated course, and 18.23% died. The pediatric new-PMS above 50 points had an accuracy rate of 85.3% with good discrimination for mortality, sensitivity of 78.8%, specificity of 77.7%, positive predictive value of 44%, and negative predictive value of 94%. The PSS above 2 had an accuracy rate of 84.5% with good discrimination for mortality, sensitivity of 97%, specificity of 71.6%, positive predictive value of 43.2%, and negative predictive value of 99%. The study concluded that the PSS and pediatric new PMS can be used efficiently to predict mortality in acute pediatric intoxicated patients. The pediatric new-PMS score is easy to calculate even before admission to PICU, as it depends on objective markers that can be obtained even in the prehospital stage, such as vital signs, mental state, demographics, and poisoning-related variables.