title: Pre-injury ASA physical status classification is an independent predictor of mortality after trauma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ability of an organism to withstand trauma is determined by the injury per se and inherent properties of the organism at the time of injury. We analyzed whether pre-injury morbidity scored on a four-level ordinal scale according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification system predicts mortality after trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  From a total of 3,773 prospectively collected patients (years 2000-2004), 3,728 patients were included. Main outcome measure was mortality 30 days after injury. The effect of pre-injury ASA-PS on mortality was assessed using linear logistic regression analysis, controlling for Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), and age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mortality increased with increasing pre-injury ASA-PS, age, and ISS, and with decreasing RTS. Unadjusted mortality rates were 5.7% in ASA-PS 1, 12.3% in ASA-PS 2, and 26.4% in ASA-PS 3-4. This increasing mortality trend across pre-injury ASA-PS group was evident in nearly all categories of ISS, RTS, and age. Odds ratio for death was 1.76 (95% CI, 1.14-2.72) for pre-injury ASA-PS 2, and 2.25 (95% CI, 1.36-3.71) for ASA-PS 3-4 compared with for ASA-PS 1 and adjusted for ISS, RTS, and age. There were no interaction effects between pre-injury ASA-PS and the other variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pre-injury ASA-PS score was an independent predictor of mortality after trauma, also after adjusting for the major variables in the traditional TRISS (Trauma and Injury Severity Score) formula. Including pre-injury ASA-PS score might improve the predictive power of a survival prediction model without complicating it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. noskaga@online.no
authors.forename: Nils O
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Skaga
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eken
authors.forename: Signe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Søvik
authors.forename: J Mary
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Petter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Steen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000776:Anesthesiology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality*