Comparison of two different severity scores (Paediatric Risk of Mortality [PRISM] and the Glasgow Meningococcal Sepsis Prognostic Score [GMSPS]) in meningococcal disease: preliminary analysis

Two different illness severity scores, Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) and the Glasgow Meningococcal Sepsis Prognostic Score (GMSPS), were evaluat ed and compared in meningococcal disease in two paediatric intensive care u nits. Forty-nine children with a median age of 36 months who had meningococ cal sepsis confirmed by laboratory data were evaluated. Overall mortality w as 18%. The median GMSPS was 3 in survivors and 8 in non-survivors. A GMSPS greater than or equal to 8 was significantly associated with death (p = 0. 0001) with a mortality predictivity and specificity of 70% and 92.5%, respe ctively. The median PRISM score in survivors was 5.5 and 23 in non-survivor s. A PRISM score of greater than or equal to 11 was significantly related t o death (p<0.0001). The Kendal correlation co-efficient between GMSPS and P RISM showed <tau> = 0.6859 (p = 0.0000). It is concluded that GMSPS and PRI SM are useful methods for identifying and classifying children into low and high risk categories. GMSPS greater than or equal to 8 or a PRISM score gr eater than or equal to 11 are significantly predictive of mortality.