Prognostic value of the qSOFA in patients with acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have a slowly progressive clinical course, although some develop acute exacerbations (AEs). An easily obtained composite score is desirable for predicting the survival rate in patients with AE of IPF (AE-IPF). We investigated the quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA), originally developed to identify sepsis, as a predictor of mortality in patients with AE-IPF and compared it to other composite assessments. Consecutive patients with IPF admitted for their first AE between 2008 and 2019 were recruited retrospectively. The association between the qSOFA score obtained at admission and mortality was investigated. During the study period, 97 patients with AE-IPF were hospitalized. The hospital mortality was 30.9%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that both the qSOFA and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM)-disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) scores were significant predictors of hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] 3.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43–10.3; p = 0.007 and OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.56–4.67; p = 0.0004; respectively). Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that both scores were consistently associated with survival. Furthermore, the sum of the two scores was a more effective predictor than the individual scores. The qSOFA score of patients admitted with AE-IPF was associated with both in-hospital and long-term mortality, which was also true for the JAAM-DIC score. The qSOFA score plus the JAAM-DIC score should be determined during the diagnostic evaluation of a patient with AE-IPF. Both scores combined may be more effective at predicting outcomes than individual scores.