SynthesisSystematic reviews2026
Does the use of National Early Warning Scores (NEWS or NEWS2) in healthcare settings improve patient outcomes: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Does the use of National Early Warning Scores (NEWS or NEWS2) in healthcare settings improve patient outcomes: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Predictive performance of an extended NEWS model for acute deterioration in general ward inpatients: a retrospective observational study.Journal of Korean biological nursing science · 2026Article
- Emergency department evaluation of immature granulocytes for complicated acute appendicitis: a retrospective cohort study.Ulusal travma ve acil cerrahi dergisi = Turkish journal of trauma & emergency surgery : TJTES · 2026Article
- Prognostic value of the HALP score in patients undergoing emergency surgery for gastroduodenal perforation.Ulusal travma ve acil cerrahi dergisi = Turkish journal of trauma & emergency surgery : TJTES · 2026Article
- Sepsis, Patient Monitoring and Nursing Research.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe National Early Warning Score (NEWS), and updated NEWS2, is used to detect all-cause deterioration, based on clinical observations. Many studies have validated the prognostic accuracy of NEWS/NEWS2, but few have investigated whether its use improves patient outcomes. This systematic review aims to bring together all evidence evaluating the effectiveness of using NEWS/NEWS2, compared to not using NEWS/NEWS2, on patient outcomes.
methodsWe searched Embase, MEDLINE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, and international trial registries from January 2012 (when NEWS was developed) to October 2024, for all records which mentioned NEWS/NEWS2 in their title or abstract. All comparative studies with interventions which included NEWS/NEWS2, and comparator areas, regions, organisations, time points, or settings which did not, were included. The target population was all non-maternity patients aged 16+ years treated in healthcare settings. Where possible, studies were synthesised by outcome using random-effects meta-analyses. Risk of bias was assessed using ROB2 and ROBINS-I v2; certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE. PROSPERO registration CRD42023442061.
resultsWe screened 2814 records and included 20 studies (in 32 records), with 18 presenting data for our outcomes. Sample sizes ranged from 66 to 13,059,865 participants. There was low certainty evidence that using NEWS/NEWS2 reduced in-hospital mortality (summary odds ratio [OR] from eleven studies 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66 to 0.94). There was also a little low certainty evidence of a reduction in hospital length of stay (two of four studies) and cardiac arrests (three of seven studies), and a potential reduction in intensive care admissions (summary OR from seven studies 0.63, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.09). Most included studies had a serious/high (12/18; 67%) or moderate (5/18; 28%) risk of bias.
conclusionsThis review highlights a lack of large scale, high-quality studies exploring the effectiveness of NEWS/NEWS2. No included studies reported negative clinical impacts of using NEWS/NEWS2 on any outcomes presented in this review. However, there is still further work required to ascertain whether the use of NEWS/NEWS2 improves patient outcomes. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42023442061.
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Registered trials
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.