title: SAPS 3 admission score: an external validation in a general intensive care population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To validate the SAPS 3 admission score in an independent general intensive care case mix and to compare its performances with the APACHE II and the SAPS II scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 26-bed general ICU from a Tertiary University Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight hundred and fifty-one consecutive patients admitted to the ICU over an 8-month period. Of these patients, 49 were readmissions, leaving 802 patients for further analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  RESULTS
  APACHE II, SAPS II and SAPS 3 variables were prospectively collected; scores and their derived probability of death were calculated according to their original manuscript description. The discriminative power was assessed using the area under the ROC curve (AUROC) and calibration was verified with the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test. The AUROC of the APACHE II model (AUROC = 0.823) was significantly lower than those of the SAPS II (AUROC = 0.850) and SAPS 3 models (AUROC = 0.854) (P = 0.038). The calibration of the APACHE II model (P = 0.037) and of the SAPS 3 global model (P = 0.035) appeared unsatisfactory. On the contrary, both SAPS II model and SAPS 3 model customised for Central and Western Europe had a good calibration. However, in our study case mix, SAPS II model tended to overestimate the probability of death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, the SAPS 3 admission score and its prediction model customised for Central and Western Europe was more discriminative and better calibrated than APACHE II, but it was not significantly better than the SAPS II.
authors.affiliation: Soins Intensifs Généraux, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège, Domaine Universitaire de Sart Tilman Bat B35, 4000 Liège, Belgium. dledoux@chu.ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ledoux
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Canivet
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Preiser
authors.forename: Joëlle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lefrancq
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Damas
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult