π₯ SOFA Score Calculator
Six organ systems, one number, tracked over time.
SOFA score (0-24)
For informational purposes only, not medical advice.
The SOFA score adds six organ-system subscores, each 0 to 4, for a total of 0 to 24. A patient with PaO2/FiO2 of 250, platelets 80,000, bilirubin 3.0, MAP 65 on no pressors, GCS 13, and creatinine 2.0 scores 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 = 10. Higher scores track with higher mortality, and a rising score over days matters more than any single value.
Developed in 1996 by a European intensive care working group, SOFA was built to describe organ dysfunction in sepsis, not to predict death, though the correlation proved strong enough that clinicians use it both ways. It is recalculated daily in ICUs around the world, which makes the trend the real vital sign.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter the six inputs from the same assessment window: the oxygenation ratio, platelet count, bilirubin, blood pressure picture, Glasgow Coma Scale, and creatinine. The tool scores each system and totals them.
Enter PaO2/FiO2 in mmHg, platelets in thousands per microliter, and bilirubin in mg/dL.
Enter MAP and select any vasopressor running. The pressor choice overrides MAP for the cardiovascular subscore, per the original rules.
Enter GCS and creatinine, then read each subscore, the total, and the approximate mortality band. Repeat daily to watch the trend.
How Each System Scores
The cutoffs are worth knowing because they encode physiology. Lungs score on PaO2/FiO2, the oxygenation ratio, with the worse bands requiring ventilatory support. Kidneys score on creatinine, with urine output as an alternate criterion in the original. The cardiovascular system is the only one scored on treatment rather than a number: needing norepinephrine above 0.1 mcg/kg/min is 4 points regardless of what the pressure reads, because the drug requirement is the dysfunction.
| Total SOFA | Approximate mortality |
|---|---|
| 0 to 6 | Under 10 percent |
| 7 to 9 | 15 to 20 percent |
| 10 to 12 | 40 to 50 percent |
| 13 to 14 | 50 to 60 percent |
| 15 and above | Over 80 percent |
Those mortality bands are rough and cohort-dependent; modern ICU care has shifted them. My take: use the total for orientation and the delta for decisions. A SOFA climbing from 6 to 11 over two days is the emergency, whatever today's number says.
Worked Example
Take the patient above: PaO2/FiO2 250 scores 2 for respiration. Platelets 80,000 score 2. Bilirubin 3.0 scores 2. MAP 65 with no pressor scores 1. GCS 13 scores 1. Creatinine 2.0 scores 2. The total is 10, landing in the 10 to 12 band with approximate mortality of 40 to 50 percent.
Notice how evenly the dysfunction spreads: no single catastrophic system, but every system mildly to moderately impaired. That pattern is classic sepsis, and it is exactly what SOFA was designed to capture when it was created for sepsis trials in the 1990s.
Reading Your Result
A score under 6 with a flat trend is reassuring. A score above 10 deserves the full ICU armamentarium. But the number was validated in septic ICU patients, and it behaves differently in other populations: it overestimates risk in young trauma patients and underestimates it in some others. The Sepsis-3 definitions use a SOFA increase of 2 or more as the organ-dysfunction criterion for sepsis, which is the score's most official job.
One more honest note: GCS is the noisiest input, especially in sedated patients, where the verbal component is untestable. Most ICUs document their convention for sedated GCS; whatever yours is, apply it consistently so the trend stays meaningful.
Limits
SOFA describes dysfunction; it does not diagnose cause, choose antibiotics, or set ceilings of care. It was never validated as a triage tool for individuals, and using it to ration care crosses an ethical line its creators warned about. This calculator reproduces the published scoring for education and tracking, nothing more.
Related Tools
Organ dysfunction travels with pressure and perfusion, so the blood pressure checker is the natural companion. For the metabolic side of critical illness, the BMI calculator frames body composition, and the daily water intake calculator covers baseline fluid needs.
For informational purposes only, not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SOFA stand for?
Sequential Organ Failure Assessment. It scores six organ systems, respiration, coagulation, liver, cardiovascular, central nervous system, and renal, from 0 to 4 each, for a total of 0 to 24. Higher scores mean more severe organ dysfunction.
What is a bad SOFA score?
Scores of 10 to 12 carry roughly 40 to 50 percent mortality in the original cohorts, and scores above 15 exceed 80 percent. But the trend matters most: a rising score signals deteriorating organ function regardless of the absolute number.
How is SOFA used in sepsis?
The Sepsis-3 definitions use an increase in SOFA of 2 or more points as the criterion for organ dysfunction in suspected infection. That change identifies sepsis and predicts roughly a 10 percent mortality in hospital populations.
How often should SOFA be calculated?
Daily in the ICU, using the worst values in each 24-hour window. The daily delta, whether the score rose, fell, or held, is the clinically useful signal.
What is the difference between SOFA and qSOFA?
qSOFA is a 3-item bedside prompt (respiratory rate, blood pressure, mentation) for identifying at-risk patients outside the ICU. Full SOFA needs labs and is the detailed ICU score. qSOFA screens; SOFA describes.
Can SOFA predict individual survival?
Not reliably. It was derived and validated on populations, and individual trajectories vary widely. Clinicians use it to track dysfunction and communicate severity, never as a sole predictor for one patient.
Why does the cardiovascular score use pressors?
Because needing vasopressors is itself the dysfunction. A patient with a normal MAP on high-dose norepinephrine is sicker than one with a low MAP on nothing, and the score reflects that by grading the drug requirement.
How do you score GCS in sedated patients?
There is no perfect answer; common practice assumes the verbal component or uses the pre-sedation value, documented clearly. The key is consistency so the trend remains interpretable across days.
Does SOFA include urine output?
The original renal component allows urine output under 500 mL/day as an alternate 3-point criterion and under 200 as 4 points. This calculator uses creatinine, the more commonly tracked input; very low urine output should still raise clinical concern.
Who should use this calculator?
Clinicians, students, and anyone studying critical care concepts. It reproduces the published score for education and trend tracking. Treatment decisions belong to the ICU team with the full clinical picture.