Xie J, et al. - In this observational, multicenter, cohort study performed in 13 tertiary hospitals in China, researchers attempted to validate a score, named the modified acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) prediction score (MAPS), to predict the development of ARDS. They investigated ARDS risk factors in this study comprising a retrospective derivation cohort and a prospective validation cohort including patients admitted into participating intensive care units (ICUs) from January 1-31, 2012, and from January 1-10, 2013, respectively. The identified risk factors for ARDS were acute pancreatitis, pneumonia, hypoalbuminemia, acidosis, and high respiratory rate. The patients who developed ARDS were discriminated from those who did not by means of the MAPS, with an area under the curve of 0.809. Based on these findings, clinical prediction of ARDS development could be assisted by MAPS based on risk factors.