Validation of the severity of illness index of the clinical services in neurology, "Hermanos Ameijeiras" hospital.

Abstract

Introduction: in the comparative analysis of the hospital performance based on the health outcome indicators, the severity of illness has become an important confounding factor. Objective: to assess the validity and reliability of the clinical severity of illness index of the "Hermanos Ameijeiras" hospital. Methods: retrospective and descriptive research at the neurological department at the cited hospital. The source of information was the medical histories of 329 patients discharged from the hospital. After applying the exclusion criteria, the final sample was made up of 277 histories from which the necessary data were drawn. The analyzed period covered January to November 2008. Results: in terms of conceptual validity, the state on discharge and the quantitative severity of illness index were related. The criterium quality showed Kappa's statistic of 0.4998 (IC de 95 % 0.4160-0.5837) and a correlation coefficient between Horne's disease severity index and the quantitative severity index of the hospital equals to 0.72 (p< 0.001). The interrater agreement revealed a reliability coefficient of 0.86 and a global weighted Kappa coefficient of 0.75. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.62. Conclusions: the severity of illness index of the clinical services at the neurological service of "Hermanos Ameijeiras" hospital is acceptable in terms of validity and reliability, which makes it useful for an objective classification of the severe condition of a patient.