Comparison of clinical and biochemical markers of dehydration with the clinical dehydration scale in children: a case comparison trial

Table 1 Clinical dehydration scale for children with acute gastroenteritis used for the study

Characteristic	Score of 0	Score of 1	Score of 2
General appearance	Normal	Thirsty, restless, or lethargic, but irritable when touched	Drowsy, limp, cold, or sweaty; comatose or not
Eyes	Normal	Slightly sunken	Very sunken
Mucous membranes (tongue)	Moist	Sticky	Dry
Tears	Tears	Decreased tears	Absent tears

The CDS consists of four clinical characteristics (general appearance, eyes, mucous membranes, and tears), each of which are scored 0, 1, or 2 for a total score of 0 to 8, with 0 representing no dehydration; 1 to 4, some dehydration; and 5 to 8, moderate/severe dehydration. This score has been validated externally and is robust. We used exactly the same criteria as Benoit Bailey et al., Academic Emergency Medicine, 2010:17(6):583-88.

ISSN: 1471-2431