Concept: Acute Physiology Score (APS)

Introduction

This concept describes the Acute Physiology Score (APS) and how it is used in Garland et al. (2012) .

Background

A component of the APACHE II classification system , the Acute Physiology Score (APS) measures the physiological condition of the critically ill patients in intensive care units. The APACHE II Acute Physiology Score scale ranges from 0, least deranged/severe, to 60, most deranged/ severe and is based on 12 clinical measures (Temperature, Mean Arterial Pressure, Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, Oxygenation, Arterial ph, Serum Sodium, Serum Potassium, Serum Creatinine, Hematocrit, White Cell Count, and Glasgow Coma Scale) made during the initial 24 hours in the ICU.

APS as a Primary Indicator of the Severity of Acute Illness

In Garland et al. (2012) the APACHE II Acute Physiology Score (APS) in the Winnipeg ICU Database, was used as the primary indicator of the severity of acute illness.

The following displays the results for Population–Based Description of ICU Use and ICU Patients using APS in Garland et al. (2012):

Tables 4.69-4.8: APACHE II Acute Physiology Scores and Total APACHE II Scores for ICU Episodes