What is a normal vs high SOFA score?

SOFA runs 0–24. Lower scores indicate less organ dysfunction; higher totals are associated with higher population-level ICU mortality. The change over time (delta-SOFA) is often more informative than a single value.

How does SOFA relate to Sepsis-3?

Under Sepsis-3, sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection, operationalised as an acute increase in SOFA of 2 points or more in a patient with suspected infection.

Why do the respiratory 3 and 4 bands require support?

The PaO₂/FiO₂ bands scoring 3 and 4 are defined only with respiratory support (mechanical ventilation or CPAP). Without support, respiration is capped at 2 in the standard SOFA definition — this calculator gates that automatically.

SOFA Score Calculator — Sequential Organ Failure Assessment

The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment grades six organ systems from 0 to 4 — total 0 to 24. The breakdown shows exactly which organ contributed what, so the number is never a black box.

What SOFA is

The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment describes the extent of organ dysfunction across six systems — respiratory, coagulation, hepatic, cardiovascular, neurological and renal — each scored 0 to 4. It was designed to track organ dysfunction over time in critically ill patients, not to be a one-off severity label.

When to use it

Use SOFA serially in the ICU to quantify and trend organ dysfunction. Under Sepsis-3, an acute rise of ≥ 2 points in a patient with suspected infection operationalises organ dysfunction. The change (delta-SOFA) is generally more informative than any single value.

How it is calculated

Respiration — PaO₂/FiO₂; the 3 and 4 bands require respiratory support (gated here).
Coagulation — platelet count.
Liver — bilirubin (mg/dL or µmol/L).
Cardiovascular — MAP and vasopressor agent/dose, as a tiered state.
CNS — Glasgow Coma Scale.
Renal — creatinine or urine output; the higher of the two is taken.

Interpretation

Higher totals track with higher population-level ICU mortality (approximate ranges): 0–6 < 10% · 7–9 ~15–20% · 10–12 ~40–50% · 13–14 ~50–60% · ≥ 15 > 80%. These are group-level figures from published cohorts — not a prediction for an individual patient.

Limitations

A single score is a snapshot; trend beats value.
The cardiovascular component depends on the vasopressor agent and dose at the time of assessment.
Mortality ranges are population-level and approximate — never patient-specific.

References

Vincent JL, Moreno R, Takala J, et al. The SOFA (Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment) score to describe organ dysfunction/failure. Intensive Care Med. 1996;22(7):707–710.
Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, et al. The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). JAMA. 2016;315(8):801–810.

Related scores

UltraCare

This is one instrument on a much larger chart.

Inside the UltraCare workspace, SOFA recomputes itself on every charted value — alongside qSOFA, NEWS2, APACHE II, deterioration signals and I-PASS handovers, admission to discharge. The clinician stays in the loop.

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