Functional and behavioral responses as marker of illness, and outcome in infants under 2 months.

Value of abnormal findings on 11 functional and behavioral items were studied for identification of serious illness, presence of bacteremia and prediction of the outcome (recovery or death) in infants upto 2 months of age. All the items were graded on a 3 point scale (0, 1 and 2) in the ascending order of severity. A total of 116 infants who were being evaluated for suspected sepsis were enrolled. The assessment was completed before detailed history and physical examination. Significant associations were observed between presence of serious illness and six items by lambda2-test and/or Pearson's correlation and multiple stepwise regression analysis. These were decreased activity, abnormal quality of cry, presence of pallor, fast breathing, decreased consolability, and consciousness level. The sensitivity of six item model was > 90% and negative predictive value >95%. The negative predictive value of several individual items was also above 90%. Consciousness level was the most important predictor of the outcome followed by poor feeding, hydration, color, consolability and abnormal expression (combined multiple R = 0.51). A total score of 7 or more on above six items had a sensitivity of 80%, and negative predictive value of 97% for death. In conclusion, behavior and functional responses (as mentioned above) were fairly useful in predicting the outcome and/or the severity of the illness. These items may be combined to develop a scale to help in therapeutic decision making.