Using admission SpO2 and ROX index predict outcome in patients with COVID-19.

Dear Editors,

We have read the paper with great interest written by Ahmed Mukhtar et al. [1]. Their study is interesting and novel to investigate the SpO2 and ROX index to predictor MV requirement and early NIV failure in patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Being able to use noninvasive tests such as the SPO2 and ROX index to predict the prognosis of patients with early crown disease is of positive significance. Previous studies have shown that NEWS2 may not perform well in COVID-19 due to the inherent limitations of design and the unique pathophysiology of the disease. Simple indices of respiratory parameters were better than NEWS2 in predicting adverse events [2]. Secondly, there was a positive correlation between ROX index<18 and COVID-19 [3]. Third, SPO2 has been confirmed by two other retrospective studies to predict prognosis severity in patients with COVID-19 [4,5].

The study of ROX index and SPO2 has positive implications for countries with COVID-19 outbreaks and could help developing countries with weaker basic health facilities to save more lives.

Source of funding

None.

Declaration of competing interest

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.