COPD Hospitalization Risk Score - Medical Algorithm

Description

Niewoehner et al developed a score for predicting hospitalization in a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This can help identify a patient who may require more aggressive management. The authors are from multiple Veterans Affairs hospitals across the United States.

Parameters:

(1) age in years

(2) observed FEV1 as percent of predicted FEV1

(3) oral steroid therapy at entry

(4) cardiovascular comorbidity

(5) number of unscheduled outpatient visits (clinic or ED) for COPD in prior year

(6) number of hospital admissions for COPD in prior year

Parameter	Finding	Points
age in years	< 70 years of age	0
	70 to 74 years	12
	75 to 79 years	23
	80 to 84 years	35
	>= 85 years	46
FEV1 as percent of predicted	10 to 19%	89
	20 to 29%	78
	30 to 39%	67
	40 to 49%	56
	50 to 59%	44
	60 to 69%	33
	>= 70%	0
oral steroid therapy at entry	absent	0
	present	22
cardiovascular comorbidity	none	0
	one or more	28
unscheduled outpatient visits	0	0
	1	3
	>= 2	24
number of hospital admissions for COPD	0	0
	1 or more	40

where:

• An FEV1 < 10% of predicted is probably incompatible with life. An FEV1 >= 70% of predicted can be handled in several ways. For the implementation I set it to 0.

total score =

= SUM(points for all 6 parameters)

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 0

• maximum score: 249

• The higher the score the greater the risk of being hospitalized for the COPD.

Total Score	Percent of Patients Hospitalized Within The Next 6 Months
< 75	< 3%
75 to 225	(0.00375 * ((points)^2)) - (0.6443 * (points)) + 31.03
> 225	> 77%

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Description

Specialty

Objective

ICD-10

COPD Hospitalization Risk Score of Niewoehner et al for a Patient with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Purpose: To determine if a patient with moderate to severe COPD is at risk for being hospitalized using the score of Niewoehner et al.

Description

Specialty

Objective

ICD-10