The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS

Abstract Vital signs are essential for monitoring and prognostication in the emergency department (ED); however, they may not fully capture the complexity of frailty in older adults. In this multicenter retrospective study of 932 older patients who visited the EDs of three tertiary university hospit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ho Sub Chung, Yunhyung Choi, Ji Yeon Lim, Keon Kim, Yoon Hee Choi, Dong Hoon Lee, Sung Jin Bae
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97764-z
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849737416315764736
author Ho Sub Chung
Yunhyung Choi
Ji Yeon Lim
Keon Kim
Yoon Hee Choi
Dong Hoon Lee
Sung Jin Bae
author_facet Ho Sub Chung
Yunhyung Choi
Ji Yeon Lim
Keon Kim
Yoon Hee Choi
Dong Hoon Lee
Sung Jin Bae
author_sort Ho Sub Chung
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Vital signs are essential for monitoring and prognostication in the emergency department (ED); however, they may not fully capture the complexity of frailty in older adults. In this multicenter retrospective study of 932 older patients who visited the EDs of three tertiary university hospitals between August 1 and October 31, 2023, we investigated the prognostic value of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) in older patients in the ED and its potential to improve existing vital sign-based scoring systems. The primary outcomes were hospital admission, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and in-hospital mortality. The AUROC was used to evaluate and compare the predictive performance of CFS, qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS scores individually and in combination. Combining the CFS with these scores significantly improved predictive accuracy compared to individual scores alone. For hospital admission, the AUROCs were 0.715 (95% CI 0.685–0.744), 0.723 (95% CI 0.693–0.752), and 0.688 (95% CI 0.657–0.718) for CFS + qSOFA, CFS + NEWS2, and CFS + REMS, respectively. For ICU admission, the AUROCs were 0.730 (95% CI 0.701–0.759), 0.714 (95% CI 0.684–0.743), and 0.707 (95% CI 0.677–0.736), respectively. For in-hospital mortality, the AUROCs were 0.798 (95% CI: 0.771–0.823), 0.774 (95% CI: 0.746–0.801), and 0.819 (95% CI: 0.793–0.843), respectively, indicating excellent performance. Incorporating frailty assessment using the CFS enhances risk stratification in older patients in the ED by complementing vital sign-based scores. This provides a more comprehensive assessment, enabling better informed clinical decisions. This study supports employing routine frailty assessment in the ED and the development of enhanced risk stratification tools that incorporate frailty.
format Article
id doaj-art-fac6410c8bb742f4a1fdb01c8a62b6cb
institution DOAJ
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-fac6410c8bb742f4a1fdb01c8a62b6cb2025-08-20T03:06:54ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-0115111110.1038/s41598-025-97764-zThe clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMSHo Sub Chung0Yunhyung Choi1Ji Yeon Lim2Keon Kim3Yoon Hee Choi4Dong Hoon Lee5Sung Jin Bae6Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Chung-Ang UniversityDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Chung-Ang UniversityDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, Ewha Womans UniversityDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, Ewha Womans UniversityDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Ewha Womans UniversityDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Chung-Ang UniversityDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Chung-Ang UniversityAbstract Vital signs are essential for monitoring and prognostication in the emergency department (ED); however, they may not fully capture the complexity of frailty in older adults. In this multicenter retrospective study of 932 older patients who visited the EDs of three tertiary university hospitals between August 1 and October 31, 2023, we investigated the prognostic value of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) in older patients in the ED and its potential to improve existing vital sign-based scoring systems. The primary outcomes were hospital admission, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and in-hospital mortality. The AUROC was used to evaluate and compare the predictive performance of CFS, qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS scores individually and in combination. Combining the CFS with these scores significantly improved predictive accuracy compared to individual scores alone. For hospital admission, the AUROCs were 0.715 (95% CI 0.685–0.744), 0.723 (95% CI 0.693–0.752), and 0.688 (95% CI 0.657–0.718) for CFS + qSOFA, CFS + NEWS2, and CFS + REMS, respectively. For ICU admission, the AUROCs were 0.730 (95% CI 0.701–0.759), 0.714 (95% CI 0.684–0.743), and 0.707 (95% CI 0.677–0.736), respectively. For in-hospital mortality, the AUROCs were 0.798 (95% CI: 0.771–0.823), 0.774 (95% CI: 0.746–0.801), and 0.819 (95% CI: 0.793–0.843), respectively, indicating excellent performance. Incorporating frailty assessment using the CFS enhances risk stratification in older patients in the ED by complementing vital sign-based scores. This provides a more comprehensive assessment, enabling better informed clinical decisions. This study supports employing routine frailty assessment in the ED and the development of enhanced risk stratification tools that incorporate frailty.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97764-zClinical frailty scale (CFS)Emergency department (ED)Risk stratificationPrognostic scoring systemsOlder people
spellingShingle Ho Sub Chung
Yunhyung Choi
Ji Yeon Lim
Keon Kim
Yoon Hee Choi
Dong Hoon Lee
Sung Jin Bae
The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS
Scientific Reports
Clinical frailty scale (CFS)
Emergency department (ED)
Risk stratification
Prognostic scoring systems
Older people
title The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS
title_full The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS
title_fullStr The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS
title_full_unstemmed The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS
title_short The clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients: a comparison with qSOFA, NEWS2, and REMS
title_sort clinical frailty scale improves risk prediction in older emergency department patients a comparison with qsofa news2 and rems
topic Clinical frailty scale (CFS)
Emergency department (ED)
Risk stratification
Prognostic scoring systems
Older people
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-97764-z
work_keys_str_mv AT hosubchung theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT yunhyungchoi theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT jiyeonlim theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT keonkim theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT yoonheechoi theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT donghoonlee theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT sungjinbae theclinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT hosubchung clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT yunhyungchoi clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT jiyeonlim clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT keonkim clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT yoonheechoi clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT donghoonlee clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems
AT sungjinbae clinicalfrailtyscaleimprovesriskpredictioninolderemergencydepartmentpatientsacomparisonwithqsofanews2andrems