Reliability and predictive validity of outcome at discharge of Glascow coma scale in an intensive care unit population

Abstract

Introduction: The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score is a commonly used in the initial evaluation of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The GCS has some limitations to evaluate the unconscious patients. This study aims to reliability and predictive validity of outcome at discharge of GCS in an intensive care unit population. Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional method in 84 patients with acute brain injury in Shahid beheshti hospital in Qom (Iran). The inter-rater agreement for the GCS scores was evaluated by the weighted kappa. Outcome prediction power of the scales was assessed by the area under the curve (AUC) in the ROC curve. Results: In total, 168 ratings were performed for 84 patients by the GCS score. Inter-rater reliability for GCSC score was excellent. Cronbach’s showed a high degree of internal consistency for the GCS (α=0.82). The inter-rater agreement for each pair of raters was excellent (kw 0.838, 95% CI 0.889 - 0.987). The results show that scale is able to predict in-hospital mortality and poor outcome. The cut of point was 6. Conclusion: The researchers conclude that the reliability and predictive validity of Persian version of the GCS score is a valid scale. The present study shows that the Persian version of the GCS score is a reliable tool for the measurement of consciousness changes in TBI patients