Blood cell differential count discretization modeling predicts survival in adults reporting to the emergency room: a retrospective cohort study

Objectives: to assess survival predictivity of baseline blood cell differential count (BCDC), discretized according to two different methods, in adults visiting the Emergency Room (ER) for illness or trauma over one-year. 
Design: Retrospective cohort study of hospital records. 
Setting: Tertiary care public hospital in northern Italy. 
Participants: 11052 patients aged > 18 years, consecutively admitted to the ER in one year, and for whom BCDC collection was indicated by ER medical staff at first presentation.
Primary outcome: Survival was the referral outcome for explorative model development. Automated BCDC analysis at baseline assessed hemoglobin, red cell mean volume (MCV) and distribution-width (RDW), platelet distribution-width (PDW), plateletcrit (PCT), absolute red blood cells, white blood cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and platelets. Discretization cutoffs were defined by Benchmark and Tailored methods. Benchmark cutoffs were stated on l...