Prehospital Index provides prognosis for hospitalized patients with acute trauma

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of the Prehospital Index (PHI) for hospitalized patients with acute trauma. Materials and methods: PHI score and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) were determined in 1,802 hospitalized patients with acute trauma. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the PHI and ISS in subgroups, and corresponding prediction indicators were calculated. Results: There were significant differences in PHI score and ISS between the survival group and the death group (Z=2.674, P=0.007). The area under the ROC curve was 0.871 (95% CI 0.855-0.886) for PHI score and 0.792 (95% CI 0.773-0.811) for ISS. Optimal cutoff points to determine the risk of critical illness were PHI >= 4 and ISS >= 22. The sensitivity of the PHI was superior to the ISS chi(2)=6.975, P=0.008), but the specificity and the accuracy of the PHI and ISS showed no significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion: The PHI is valuable in prognostic prediction of hospitalized patients with acute trauma, and it is superior to the ISS. The PHI has such advantages as being simple in operation, easy to learn, capable of reflecting conditions timely and reliably, and suitable for dynamic evaluation and screening for critical patients with trauma.