Neuroanaesthesia & neurocritical care
The Glasgow Coma Scale as a predictor of mortality in intensive care: relevance of underlying cause of impaired consciousness
Authors' conclusion
Low GCS was a strong predictor of death, but its relative weight was highly dependent on the diagnosis.
Study context
- Population
- Admissions to 20 Intensive Care Unit (ICUs) in Finland, Estonia, and Switzerland, 2015–2017admissions, 20 ICUs
- Participants
- 58,982 admissions
- Exposure
- Low GCS vs higher GCS, by diagnosis category
- Neurologicn = 17,275
- Other diagnosesn = 41,707
- Outcome
- Association between low GCS (lowest GCS in first 24 h after ICU admission below 9) and risk of death
Methodological detailsmulticentre, hierarchical logistic regression
- Multicentre
- Hierarchical logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Risk of death with low GCS
Odds ratio (95% CI)
Neurologic
11.3(8.0–15.9)
Other diagnoses
4.8(3.9–5.8)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Prevalence of low GCS · first 24 h
Original publication
The Glasgow Coma Scale as a predictor of mortality in intensive care: relevance of underlying cause of impaired consciousness. J Crit Care. Published 30 April 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →