Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Using inability to walk to predict in-hospital mortality in a high-income country – A comparison with the National Early Warning Score in a multicenter prospective cohort
Authors' conclusion
Inability to walk (IATW) is a bedside assessment that when negative identifies patients with low 30-day in-hospital mortality and provides complementary information to NEWS.
Study context
- Population
- All adult inpatients in four Swedish hospitals
- Participants
- 1,842 inpatients
- Exposure
- Inability to walk (IATW) vs NEWS CRITICAL
- Outcome
- 30-day in-hospital mortality
- Follow-up
- 30 days
Methodological detailsmulticentre, point-prevalence assessment, diagnostic accuracy
- Multicentre
- Point-prevalence assessment
- Diagnostic accuracy
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Predictive accuracy for 30-day in-hospital mortality
| Group | Sensitivity | Specificity | NPV | Positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IATW | 86.9% | 41.4% | 98.5% | 59.9% |
| NEWS CRITICAL | 66.7% | 79.8% | 98.0% | 22.3% |
Sensitivity
IATW86.9%
NEWS CRITICAL66.7%
Specificity
IATW41.4%
NEWS CRITICAL79.8%
NPV
IATW98.5%
NEWS CRITICAL98.0%
Positive
IATW59.9%
NEWS CRITICAL22.3%
- Overall mortality
- 4.6%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | OR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Association of IATW with mortality, adjusted for NEWS, age and sexMultivariable logistic regression | 2.43 (1.24–4.76) | P = 0.009 | |
| 0.20.5125Odds ratio (log scale) |
Mortality in IATW-negative with NEWS <5
- Mortality (35.2% of cohort)
- 1.1%
Original publication
Using inability to walk to predict in-hospital mortality in a high-income country – A comparison with the National Early Warning Score in a multicenter prospective cohort. J Crit Care. Published 26 April 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →