The clinical risk index of babies (CRIB) score in India

Objective: To assess the usefulness of clinical risk index of babies (CRIB score) in predicting neonatal mortality in extremely preterm neonates, compared to birth weight and gestation. Methods: 97 preterm neonates with gestational age less than 31 weeks or birth weight less than or equal to 1500 g were enrolled for the prospective longitudinal study. Relevant neonatal data was recorded. Blood gas analysis results and the maximum and the minimum FiO2 required by babies in first 12 hours of life were noted. Mortality was taken as death while the baby was in nursery. The prediction of mortality by birth weight, gestational age and CRIB score was done using the Logistic model, and expressed as area under the ROC curve. Results: The area under the ROC curve for birth weight, gestational age and CRIB score was almost the same, the areas being 0.829, 0.819 and 0.823 respectively. Hence CRIB score did not fare better than birth weight and gestational age in predicting neonatal mortality. Conclusion: The CRIB score did not improve on the ability of birth weight and gestational age to predict neonatal mortality in the study.