scholarly journals COVID-19 severity prediction based on patient risk factors and number of vaccines received

Author(s):  
Ariel Israel ◽  
Alejandro A. Schäffer ◽  
Eugene Merzon ◽  
Ilan Green ◽  
Eli Magen ◽  
...  

Background Vaccines are highly effective in preventing severe disease and death from COVID-19, and new medications that can reduce severity of disease have been approved. However, many countries are facing limited supply of vaccine doses and medications. A model estimating the probabilities for hospitalization and mortality according to individual risk factors and vaccine doses received could help prioritize vaccination and yet scarce medications to maximize lives saved and reduce the burden on hospitalization facilities. Methods Electronic health records from 101,034 individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, since the beginning of the pandemic and until November 30, 2021 were extracted from a national healthcare organization in Israel. Logistic regression models were built to estimate the risk for subsequent hospitalization and death based on the number of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine doses received and few major risk factors (age, sex, body mass index, hemoglobin A1C, kidney function, and presence of hypertension, pulmonary disease or malignancy). Results The models built predict the outcome of newly infected individuals with remarkable accuracy: area under the curve was 0.889 for predicting hospitalization, and 0.967 for predicting mortality. Even when a breakthrough infection occurs, having received three vaccination doses significantly reduces the risk of hospitalization by 66% (OR=0.336) and of death by 78% (OR=0.220). Conclusions The models enable rapid identification of individuals at high risk for hospitalization and death when infected. These patients can be prioritized to receive booster vaccination and the yet scarce medications. A calculator based on these models is made publicly available on http://covidest.web.app

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1478-1486
Author(s):  
Teboho Letuka ◽  
Sasha Frade

Background: Anaemia among under-5 children is a major public health issue worldwide. Some countries with a high prev- alence of anaemia also have high prevalence of malaria. Even though Lesotho does not have a high prevalence of malaria, its prevalence rate of anaemia is as high. According to the 2014 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), the prevalence of anaemia among children under-5 was 51%. Other factors could be influencing the prevalence of anaemia in Lesotho. Objectives: This study examined the household and individual risk factors of anaemia among children under-5 in Lesotho. Methods: Data from the 2014 Lesotho DHS which included 924 children under-5 years were analysed. Descriptive statistics, chi-square cross-tabulations and ordered logistic regression models were run using Stata v15. Results: Twenty-one percent (21%) of children under-5 had mild anaemia while 7% had severe-moderate anaemia. Children residing in households cooking with biogas (aOR=4.88, CI: 1.28-18.58) and those living in households that cook with bio- mass (aOR=4.22, CI: 1.40-12.67) had higher odds of severe-moderate anaemia. Conclusion: Using solid fuels for cooking increases the vulnerability of children under-5 developing anaemia. Therefore, knowledge of renewable energy resources should be increased. This will help reduce levels of anaemia among under-5 chil- dren in Lesotho. Keywords: Household and individual risk factors; anaemia; under-5 children; Lesotho.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian G. Zucco ◽  
Rudi Agius ◽  
Rebecka Svanberg ◽  
Kasper S. Moestrup ◽  
Ramtin Z. Marandi ◽  
...  

Interpretable risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients can aid clinicians to implement precision medicine. Here we trained a machine learning model to predict mortality within 12 weeks of a first positive SARS-CoV-2 test. By leveraging data on 33,928 confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases in eastern Denmark, we considered 2,723 variables extracted from electronic health records (EHR) including demographics, diagnoses, medications, laboratory test results and vital parameters. A discrete-time framework for survival modelling enabled us to predict personalized survival curves and explain individual risk factors. Performances of weighted concordance index 0.95 and precision-recall area under the curve 0.71 were measured on the test set. Age, sex, number of medications, previous hospitalizations and lymphocyte counts were identified as top mortality risk factors. Our explainable survival model developed on EHR data also revealed temporal dynamics of the 22 selected risk factors. Upon further validation, this model may allow direct reporting of personalized survival probabilities in routine care.


Author(s):  
Mythri Shankar ◽  
KR Nishanth

Introduction: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is evolving rapidly worldwide. It has led to a worldwide research to identify the people who are at more risk for developing the infection, increasing severity and mortality. Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the risk of some of the common and major comorbidities on the outcome of the disease. Materials and Methods: A literature search was conducted using EMBASE, PUBMED, Web of science, SCOPUS and Cochrane database. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) used were “COVID-19” or “SARS CoV 2” or “Coronavirus disease 19” and “Comorbidities” or “Risk factors”. Individual risk factors were also used as keywords such as “Diabetes”, Hypertension”, “Obesity”, “Chronic kidney disease”, “Elderly”, “Cardiovascular disease”, “Lung disorders” and “Malignancy”. Two researchers conducted the search independently. Results: After extensive search, 57 articles were shortlisted for complete review. It was found that patients with comorbidities had more severe disease than those without comorbidities. Patients with more number of comorbidities had more severe disease than patients with single comorbidity. Initial reports suggested that elderly were at more risk than the younger population. The most common comorbidity was hypertension followed by diabetes and obesity. Conclusion: A meticulous triage of patients should be carried out after acquiring proper medical history because this will help to identify patients who are at an increased risk of poor outcome of the infection. Also, they should be given more aggressive treatment upon diagnosis of infection.


Crisis ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maila Upanne

This study monitored the evolution of psychologists' (n = 31) conceptions of suicide prevention over the 9-year course of the National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland and assessed the feasibility of the theoretical model for analyzing suicide prevention developed in earlier studies [ Upanne, 1999a , b ]. The study was formulated as a retrospective self-assessment where participants compared their earlier descriptions of suicide prevention with their current views. The changes in conceptions were analyzed and interpreted using both the model and the explanations given by the subjects themselves. The analysis proved the model to be a useful framework for revealing the essential features of prevention. The results showed that the freely-formulated ideas on prevention were more comprehensive than those evolved in practical work. Compared to the earlier findings, the conceptions among the group had shifted toward emphasizing a curative approach and the significance of individual risk factors. In particular, greater priority was focused on the acute suicide risk phase as a preventive target. Nonetheless, the overall structure of prevention ideology remained comprehensive and multifactorial, stressing multistage influencing. Promotive aims (protective factors) also remained part of the prevention paradigm. Practical working experiences enhanced the psychologists' sense of the difficulties of suicide prevention as well as their criticism and feeling of powerlessness.


Author(s):  
Meizi Wang ◽  
Jianhua Ying ◽  
Ukadike Chris Ugbolue ◽  
Duncan S. Buchan ◽  
Yaodong Gu ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Scotland has one of the highest rates of obesity in the Western World, it is well established that poor weight profiles, and particularly abdominal obesity, is strongly associated with Type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Whether these associations are apparent in ethnic population groups in Scotland is unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between different measures of fatness with clustered cardio metabolic risk factors between Scottish South Asian adolescents and Scottish Caucasian adolescents; (2) Methods: A sample of 208 Caucasian adolescents and 52 South Asian adolescents participated in this study. Stature, waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, physical activity, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk were measured; (3) Results: Significant, partial correlations in the South Asian cohort between body mass index (BMI) and individual risk factors were generally moderate. However, correlations between Waist circumference (WC) and individual risk factors were significant and strong. In the Caucasian cohort, a significant yet weak correlation between WC and total cholesterol (TG) was noted although no other associations were evident for either WC or BMI. Multiple regression analysis revealed that both BMI and WC were positively associated with CCR (p < 0.01) in the South Asian group and with the additional adjustment of either WC or BMI, the independent associations with clustered cardio-metabolic risk (CCR) remained significant (p < 0.005); (4) Conclusions: No positive relationships were found between BMI, WC, and CCR in the Caucasian group. Strong and significant associations between measures of fatness and metabolic risk were evident in Scottish South Asian adolescents.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110283
Author(s):  
Yingwei Yang ◽  
Karen D. Liller ◽  
Martha Coulter ◽  
Abraham Salinas-Miranda ◽  
Dinorah Martinez Tyson ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mutual impact of community and individual factors on youth’s perceptions of community safety, using structural equation modeling (SEM) conceptualized by syndemic theory. This study used survey data collected from a county wide sample of middle and high school students (N=25,147) in West Central Florida in 2015. The outcome variable was youth’s perceptions of community safety. Predictors were latent individual and community factors constructed from 14 observed variables including gun accessibility, substance use, depressive symptoms, and multiple neighborhood disadvantage questions. Three structural equation models were conceptualized based on syndemic theory and analyzed in Mplus 8 using weighted least squares (WLS) estimation. Each model’s goodness of fit was assessed. Approximately seven percent of youth reported feeling unsafe in their community. After model modifications, the final model showed a good fit of the data and adhered to the theoretical assumption. In the final SEM model, an individual latent factor was implied by individual predictors measuring gun accessibility without adult’s permission (β=0.70), sadness and hopelessness (β=0.52), alcohol use (β=0.79), marijuana use (β=0.94), and illegal drug use (β=0.77). Meanwhile, a community latent factor was indicated by multiple community problems including public drinking (β=0.88), drug addiction (β=0.96), drug selling (β=0.97), lack of money (β=0.83), gang activities (β=0.90), litter and trash (β=0.79), graffiti (β=0.91), deserted houses (β=0.86), and shootings (β=0.93). A second-order syndemic factor that represented the individual and community factors showed a very strong negative association with youth’s safe perception (β=-0.98). This study indicates that individual risk factors and disadvantaged community conditions interacted with each other and mutually affected youth’s perceptions of community safety. To reduce these co-occurring effects and improve safe perceptions among youth, researchers and practitioners should develop and implement comprehensive strategies targeting both individual and community factors.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
I. Krug ◽  
J. Linardon ◽  
C. Greenwood ◽  
G. Youssef ◽  
J. Treasure ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite a wide range of proposed risk factors and theoretical models, prediction of eating disorder (ED) onset remains poor. This study undertook the first comparison of two machine learning (ML) approaches [penalised logistic regression (LASSO), and prediction rule ensembles (PREs)] to conventional logistic regression (LR) models to enhance prediction of ED onset and differential ED diagnoses from a range of putative risk factors. Method Data were part of a European Project and comprised 1402 participants, 642 ED patients [52% with anorexia nervosa (AN) and 40% with bulimia nervosa (BN)] and 760 controls. The Cross-Cultural Risk Factor Questionnaire, which assesses retrospectively a range of sociocultural and psychological ED risk factors occurring before the age of 12 years (46 predictors in total), was used. Results All three statistical approaches had satisfactory model accuracy, with an average area under the curve (AUC) of 86% for predicting ED onset and 70% for predicting AN v. BN. Predictive performance was greatest for the two regression methods (LR and LASSO), although the PRE technique relied on fewer predictors with comparable accuracy. The individual risk factors differed depending on the outcome classification (EDs v. non-EDs and AN v. BN). Conclusions Even though the conventional LR performed comparably to the ML approaches in terms of predictive accuracy, the ML methods produced more parsimonious predictive models. ML approaches offer a viable way to modify screening practices for ED risk that balance accuracy against participant burden.


Author(s):  
Andrew Richardson

In this article, Andy Richardson, BANCC Educational Advisor, examines several important environmental and individual risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Following on from the meeting of Global Leaders at COP26 in Glasgow, he considers the impact of, and exposure to, environmental factors, including pollution and noise.


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