STUDY OF NEWS 2 AS A TOOL FOR IDENTIFYING ACUTELY ILL PATIENTS IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

The global healthcare system has been under significant pressure during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in emergency departments and ICUs. This crisis has exposed the limitations of traditional clinical risk assessment tools, highlighting the need for validated scoring systems to identify severe Covid-19 cases accurately. Our study focused on the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2), widely used in emergency medicine, to evaluate its effectiveness in Covid-19 patients compared to other risk stratification tools. Conducted at PRS Hospital, Trivandrum, over two years, the study included approximately 200 patients with Covid-19 symptoms. Data were collected through decoder sheets and patient records, with ethical clearance from the Institutional Human Ethics Committee. The study's inclusion criteria were adults over 18 who consented, excluding those with certain arrhythmias or nylon allergies. The majority of participants were aged 55-64, predominantly male, with 41% having a NEWS2 score of 0, and 83% successfully treated and discharged. Chi-Square analysis showed a significant relationship between NEWS2 scores and mortality (p-value: 0.000). NEWS2 demonstrated 100% sensitivity, 88.55% specificity, 64.15% PPV, and 100% NPV, with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 90.5%. ROC curves showed high predictive capacity, with an AUROC of 0.962. The study concludes that NEWS2 is an effective tool for identifying acutely ill patients in the Emergency Department, emphasizing the need for validated scoring systems to enhance patient care and decision-making in critical health scenarios.