Racial disparities in the SOFA score among patients hospitalized with COVID-19

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 9; p. e0257608
• Main Authors: Tolchin, Benjamin, Oladele, Carol, Galusha, Deron, Kashyap, Nitu, Showstark, Mary, Bonito, Jennifer, Salazar, Michelle C, Herbst, Jennifer L, Martino, Steve, Kim, Nancy, Nash, Katherine A, Nguemeni Tiako, Max Jordan, Roy, Shireen, Vergara Greeno, Rebeca, Jubanyik, Karen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 17.09.2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Emergency medical care; Engineering and Technology; Evaluation; Health care disparities; Health disparities; Medical care; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; Missing data; Mortality; Pandemics; Patients; People and Places; Population studies; Quality management; Race factors; United States; United States > US; Europe; Connecticut
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257608

Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score predicts probability of in-hospital mortality. Many crisis standards of care suggest the use of SOFA scores to allocate medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Are SOFA scores elevated among Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients hospitalized with COVID-19, compared to Non-Hispanic White patients? Retrospective cohort study conducted in Yale New Haven Health System, including 5 hospitals with total of 2681 beds. Study population drawn from consecutive patients aged [greater than or equal to]18 admitted with COVID-19 from March 29.sup.th to August 1.sup.st, 2020. Patients excluded from the analysis if not their first admission with COVID-19, if they did not have SOFA score recorded within 24 hours of admission, if race and ethnicity data were not Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, or Hispanic, or if they had other missing data. The primary outcome was SOFA score, with peak score within 24 hours of admission dichotomized as <6 or [greater than or equal to]6. Of 2982 patients admitted with COVID-19, 2320 met inclusion criteria and were analyzed, of whom 1058 (45.6%) were Non-Hispanic White, 645 (27.8%) were Hispanic, and 617 (26.6%) were Non-Hispanic Black. Median age was 65.0 and 1226 (52.8%) were female. In univariate logistic screen and in full multivariate model, Non-Hispanic Black patients but not Hispanic patients had greater odds of an elevated SOFA score [greater than or equal to]6 when compared to Non-Hispanic White patients (OR 1.49, 95%CI 1.11-1.99).