National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) to identify inpatient COVID-19 deterioration: a retrospective analysis

Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Mar;21(2):84-89. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0688. Epub 2021 Feb 5.

Abstract

Introduction: We sought to provide the first report of the use of NEWS2 monitoring to pre-emptively identify clinical deterioration within hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Consecutive adult admissions with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 were included in this single-centre retrospective UK cohort study. We analysed all electronic clinical observations recorded within 28 days of admission until discharge or occurrence of a serious event, defined as any of the following: initiation of respiratory support, admission to intensive care, initiation of end of life care, or in-hospital death.

Results: 133/296 (44.9%) patients experienced at least one serious event. NEWS2 ≥ 5 heralded the first occurrence of a serious event with sensitivity 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-1.00), specificity 0.28 (0.21-0.35), positive predictive value (PPV) 0.53 (0.47-0.59), and negative predictive value (NPV) 0.96 (0.90-1.00). The NPV (but not PPV) of NEWS2 monitoring exceeded that of other early warning scores including the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) (0.59 [0.52-0.66], p<0.001) and quick Sepsis Related Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score (0.58 [0.51-0.65], p<0.001).

Conclusion: Our results support the use of NEWS2 monitoring as a sensitive method to identify deterioration of hospitalised COVID-19 patients, albeit at the expense of a relatively high false-trigger rate.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; deterioration; early warning score; monitoring.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • COVID-19*
  • Cohort Studies
  • Disease Progression
  • Early Warning Score*
  • Humans
  • Inpatients
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • SARS-CoV-2