PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Brian Kikomeko AU - George Mutiibwa AU - Pauline Nabatanzi AU - Alfred Lumala AU - John Kellett AU - on behalf of the Kitovu Hospital Study Group TI - Prediction of admission to a low-resource sub-Saharan hospital by mental status, mobility and oxygen saturation recorded on arrival: a prospective observational study AID - 10.7861/clinmed.2021-0325 DP - 2021 Nov 01 TA - Clinical Medicine PG - e639--e644 VI - 21 IP - 6 4099 - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/6/e639.short 4100 - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/6/e639.full SO - Clin Med2021 Nov 01; 21 AB - Background The decision to admit patients to hospital in low-resource settings have been poorly investigated.Aim We aimed to determine the association of a disposition score determined on arrival with the decision subsequently made to admit or discharge the patient. The score awarded one point for altered mental status, one point for impaired mobility and one point for low oxygen saturation.Methods The mental status, mobility and oxygen saturation on arrival of 5,334 consecutive patients attending a combined emergency and outpatient department in a low-resource Ugandan hospital were recorded. Admission decisions were subsequently made independently by clinicians unaware to the score.Results Most patients (n=3,876; 73%) had a disposition score of zero and only 25 of these patients (0.6%) were subsequently admitted. A total of 646 (12.1%) patients were admitted. Only 301 (5.6%) patients had a score of 3 points and 263 (87.4%) of these were admitted. The C statistic for the discrimination of the score for admission was 0.953 (95% confidence interval 0.941–0.964).Conclusion In a low-resource setting, a simple score based on mental status, mobility and oxygen saturation identified outpatient and emergency department patients most and least likely to be subsequently admitted to hospital with a high degree of discrimination.