Validity of a Death Prognostic Scale for Critical Neuro-Oncological Patients: a Secondary Analysis
Keywords:
cancer; neurological complications; mortality; prognosis; survival; predictive model; validation studyAbstract
Introduction: Prognosis of death in patients with cancer and severe neurological complications is crucial for decision-making in intensive care.
Objective: To determine the validity of a prognostic scale of death for patients with solid tumors and severe neurological complications.
Methods: Observational, retrospective, secondary analysis study from a published single-center prospective cohort study conducted in the Intensive Care unit of the Cuban Institute of Oncology from 2017 to 2024. The data include information obtained from 265 patients with solid tumors and severe neurological complications in whom a prognostic scale of death was designed. For the secondary analysis, the internal validity, construct and criterion of the scale was determined. Survival curves and Cox regression were generated to determine the temporal prognostic capacity.
Results: the validity of the scale was adequate with a sensitivity of 93.8% and specificity of 89.82%. Discrimination capacity (homogeneity of areas test: p=0.000), calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow: minimal differences) and performance (Gini index: 0.924) were appropriate. Survival analysis showed a sharp drop in the curve for the group at high risk of death in the first five days with high prognostic significance (Cox HR: 21.74).
Conclusions: The secondary validity study strengthens, from the clinical point of view, the prognostic scale designed as an effective tool in the prognosis of death in adults with solid tumors and severe neurological complications.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ariel Sosa-Remón, Ana Esperanza Jerez-Álvarez, Jhossmar Cristians Auza-Santivañez, Miguel Emilio García-Rodríguez, Ariadna Méndez-Rosabal, Arian Jesús Cuba-Naranjo, Yudiel Pérez-Yero, Enrique Alejandro Matos-Lastre
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