Admission Braden Scale Score as an Early Independent Predictor of In‐Hospital Mortality Among Inpatients With COVID‐19: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Lovicu, Elena; Faraone, Antonio; Fortini, Alberto

BACKGROUND: The COVID‐19 pandemic has put a strain on health systems. Predictors of adverse outcomes need to be investigated to properly manage COVID‐19 patients. The Braden Scale (BS), commonly used for the assessment of pressure ulcer risk, has recently been proposed to identify frailty. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive utility of the BS for prediction of in‐hospital mortality in a cohort of COVID‐19 patients admitted to non‐ICU wards. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective single‐center cohort study evaluating all patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection consecutively admitted over a 2‐month period (from March 6 to May 7, 2020) to the COVID‐19 general wards of our institution. Demographic, clinical, and nursing assessment data, including admission BS, were extracted from electronic medical records. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to explore the association between the BS score and in‐hospital death. RESULTS: Braden Scale was assessed in 146 patients (mean age 74.7 years; 52% males). On admission, 46 had a BS ≤ 15, and 100 patients had a BS > 15. Mortality among patients with BS ≤ 15 was significantly higher than in patients with BS > 15 (45.7% vs. 16%; p < .001). On multivariable regression analysis, adjusting for potentials confounders (age, Barthel scale, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, and hypertension), the admission BS remained inversely associated with the risk of in‐hospital mortality (OR = 0.76; 95% CI [0.60, 0.96]; p = .020). LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Admission BS could be used as a simple bedside predictive tool able to early identify non‐ICU COVID‐19 patients with poor prognosis who might benefit from specific and timely interventions.