quick Sepsis Related Organ Failure Assessment
What is qSOFA?
The qSOFA score (also known as quickSOFA) is a bedside prompt that may identify patients with suspected infection who are at greater risk for a poor outcome outside the intensive care unit (ICU). It uses three criteria, assigning one point for low blood pressure (SBP≤100 mmHg), high respiratory rate (≥22 breaths per min), or altered mentation (Glasgow coma scale<15).
How is Sepsis Defined?
Although sepsis was described over 2,000 years ago, clinicians still struggle to define it, and there is no 'gold standard.' As awareness of sepsis increases, there is pressure for a widely deployable, consistent, and accurate diagnostic criteria. And yet, this is a complex task, with competing priorities, resulting in varying approaches and distinct criteria for different uses.
A conceptual framework for how one might approach defining sepsis is described by Angus and colleagues. The proposed framework intends to aid in the understanding of the multiple current sepsis definitions and guide the development of useful criteria that may serve different purposes. Check out our video that explains this in more detail.