An exploratory study using data envelopment analysis to assess neurotrauma patients in the intensive care unit

Patients with severe head trauma were studied retrospectively to determine if Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) could successfully model patients early in their stay in an intensive care unit. Variables examined were cerebral perfusion pressure, body temperature, mean arterial pressure, serum osmolarity and pCO2. Unlike regression-based models that focus on mean values for the group, DEA evaluates each patient individually calculating an ‘efficiency’ score based on a patient's ability to maximize output for a given set of physiologic inputs. Patients with high efficiency scores were found to have a better chance of making a full recovery than similarly injured patients who were inefficient. This approach needs further study but may offer physicians the opportunity to improve patient outcome subject to the manipulation of individual variables from the results of a DEA model rather than aiming for normal or average physiologic values.