The Use of the SMART-COP Score in Predicting Severity Outcomes Among Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Pneumonia is a pathological process of interstitial lung tissue and distal airway and alveolar infection and infiltration. SMART-COP (systolic blood pressure, multilobar infiltrates, albumin, respiratory rate, tachycardia, confusion, oxygen, and pH) is a severity score method designed to identify individuals who require intensive respiratory or vasopressor support (IRVS) support due to pneumonia. Therefore, it is important for management decisions in pneumonia. This meta-analysis was conducted to determine the performance of the SMART-COP score in predicting the prognosis and severity of patients presenting with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The current meta-analysis was performed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic search was conducted using Medline, Embase, and CINAHL to identify relevant studies assessing the validity of the SMART-COP score in predicting the severity of patients with CAP. Overall, nine studies were included in the current meta-analysis. A pooled sensitivity of the SMART-COP score to predict the use of IRVS is 89% (95% CI: 84%-92%) while its specificity is 68% (95% CI: 65%-70%). The pooled sensitivity of the SMART-COP score to predict 30-day mortality is 92% (95% CI: 89%-94%) while its specificity is 39% (95% CI: 37%-42%). To summarize, SMART-COP is a new, eight-variable instrument that appears to accurately identify patients with CAP who will require IRVS and 30-day mortality. Our findings show that SMART-COP will be a valuable tool for clinicians in accurately predicting illness severity in CAP patients as compared to other scoring systems. SMART-COP can be useful to identify patients who need urgent management.

Information on Prognostic Markers of Severe Acute Bronchitis in Preschoolers: A Study in Sumy Region in North-Eastern Ukraine

“…Additionally, for predicting 30day mortality, the SMART-COP score demonstrated a pooled sensitivity of 92 % and specificity of 39 %. Overall, the study suggests that SMART-COP is a valuable tool for clinicians in accurately assessing illness severity and identifying patients who require urgent management due to CAP [11].…”

“…Identifying factors or biomarkers associated with disease progression can aid clinicians in stratifying patients based on their risk profile, enabling personalized treatment approaches and resource allocation. Developing reliable prognostic tools for acute bronchitis in children can mitigate adverse outcomes, reduce unnecessary interventions, and optimize healthcare resource utilization [10][11][12][13][14].…”