A Convenient Risk Prediction Score for COVID-19 for Determining Whether or Not Hospitalization Is Recommended: Kanagawa Admission Priority Assessment Score.

ABSTRACT

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a collapse of the medical care system, with effective triage proving vital. The Kanagawa admission priority assessment score, version-1 (KAPAS-1) and version-2 (KAPAS-2), was developed to determine the need for hospitalization. Patients with a high KAPAS (≥5) are recommended for hospitalization. We retrospectively investigated the correlation between the KAPAS and oxygen requirement during hospitalization. Methods We collected the clinical data of COVID-19 patients admitted between February 5 and December 6, 2020. Patients were divided into two groups those who required oxygen therapy during hospitalization (OXY) and those who did not (NOXY). We assessed the correlations between the groups and KAPAS-1 and KAPAS-2. Results Overall, 117 COVID-19 patients were analyzed, including 20 OXY and 97 NOXY and 54 high KAPAS-1 and 63 high KAPAS-2. The median KAPAS-1 and KAPAS-2 were significantly higher in OXY than in NOXY (6.5 vs. 3, and 9 vs. 4, respectively). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of KAPAS-1 and KAPAS-2 for oxygen requirement were 0.777 and 0.825, respectively, and the maximum values of Youden's index were 4 and 6, respectively. The proportions of high KAPAS-1 and high KAPAS-2 were significantly higher in OXY than in NOXY (90.0% vs. 37.1%, and 90.0% vs. 46.4%, respectively). Conclusion The KAPAS was significantly correlated with oxygen requirement. Furthermore, the KAPAS may be useful for deciding which patients are most likely to require hospitalization and for selecting non-hospitalized patients who should be carefully monitored.