Articles: pandemics.
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Tohoku J. Exp. Med. · Jan 2024
Evaluation of Statistical Approaches in Developing a Predictive Model of Severe COVID-19 during Early Phase of Pandemic with Limited Data Resources.
As evidence of risk factors for severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was uncertain in early phases of the pandemic, the development of an efficient predictive model for severe cases to triage high-risk individuals represented an urgent yet challenging issue. It is crucial to select appropriate statistical models when available data and evidence are limited. This study was conducted to assess the accuracy of different statistical models in predicting severe cases using demographic data from patients with COVID-19 prior to the emergence of consequential variants. ⋯ The benefit of performing feature selection with a training dataset before building models was seen in some models, but not in all models. In summary, the naïve Bayes and RF models exhibited ideal predictive performance even with limited available data. The benefit of performing feature selection before building models with limited data resources depended on machine learning methods and parameters.
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Pol. Arch. Med. Wewn. · Jan 2024
Hospitalizations of sarcoidosis patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.
Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease that mostly affects the lungs and lymphatic system. Due to its rarity and variable clinical course, analyses of factors related to sarcoidosis should be based on large databases and long observation periods. ⋯ Health care changes related to the outbreak of the COVID‑19 pandemic may have increased the health debt for inpatient sarcoidosis treatment. The occurrence of sarcoidosis in Poland may be related to demographic and territorial factors.
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The National Guard (NG) served as a critical component of the USA's response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, while concurrently managing their personal responses to the pandemic. Determining whether the activation of NG service members in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a greater psychological strain can identify NG's needs for mental health support. ⋯ COVID-19 activation did not increase the risk of mental health difficulties among NGU service members. However, low levels of unit cohesion were associated with the risk of PTSD, anxiety and depression, and anger, and low levels of leadership were associated with the risk of PTSD and anger. The results suggest a resilient psychological response to COVID-19 activation and the potential for strengthening all NG service members through enhancing unit cohesion and leadership support. Future research on specific activation exposures, including the type of work tasks in which service members are engaged, particularly those associated with high-stress work conditions, is needed to help better understand their activation experience and how it may influence post-activation responses.