• Lillian N Lukoko, Peter S Kussin, Rodney D Adam, James Orwa, and Wangari Waweru-Siika.
• Department of Anesthesia, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.
• Plos One. 2020 Jan 1; 15 (7): e0235809.

BackgroundOutcomes in well-resourced, intensive care units (ICUs) in Kenya are thought to be comparable to those in high-income countries (HICs) but risk-adjusted mortality data is unavailable. We undertook an evaluation of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi ICU to analyze patient clinical-demographic characteristics, compare the performance of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), delta-SOFA at 48 hours and Mortality Prediction Model-III (MPM-III) mortality prediction systems, and identify factors associated with increased risk of mortality.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted of adult patients admitted to the ICU between January 2015 and September 2017. SOFA and MPM-III scores were determined at admission and SOFA repeated at 48 hours.ResultsApproximately 33% of patients did not meet ICU admission criteria. Mortality among the population of critically ill patients in the ICU was 31.7%, most of whom were male (61.4%) with a median age of 53.4 years. High adjusted odds of mortality were found among critically ill patients with leukemia (aOR 6.32, p<0.01), tuberculosis (aOR 3.96, p<0.01), post-cardiac arrest (aOR 3.57, p<0.01), admissions from the step-down unit (aOR 3.13, p<0.001), acute kidney injury (aOR 2.97, p<0.001) and metastatic cancer (aOR 2.45, p = 0.04). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve of admission SOFA was 0.77 (95% CI, 0.73-0.81), MPM-III 0.74 (95% CI, 0.69-0.79), delta-SOFA 0.69 (95% CI, 0.63-0.75) and 48-hour SOFA 0.83 (95% CI, 0.79-0.87). The difference between SOFA at 48 hours and admission SOFA, MPM-III and delta-SOFA was statistically significant (chi2 = 17.1, 24.2 and 26.5 respectively; p<0.001). Admission SOFA, MPM-III and 48-hour SOFA were well calibrated (p >0.05) while delta-SOFA was borderline (p = 0.05).ConclusionMortality among the critically ill was higher than expected in this well-resourced ICU. 48-hour SOFA performed better than admission SOFA, MPM-III and delta-SOFA in our cohort. While a large proportion of patients did not meet admission criteria but were boarded in the ICU, critically ill patients stepped-up from the step-down unit were unlikely to survive. Patients admitted following a cardiac arrest, and those with advanced disease such as leukemia, stage-4 HIV and metastatic cancer, had particularly poor outcomes. Policies for fair allocation of beds, protocol-driven admission criteria and appropriate case selection could contribute to lowering the risk of mortality among the critically ill to a level on par with HICs.

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