Contrasting factors associated with COVID-19-related ICU admission and death outcomes in hospitalised patients by means of Shapley values.

Identification of those at greatest risk of death due to the substantial threat of COVID-19 can benefit from novel approaches to epidemiology that leverage large datasets and complex machine-learning models, provide data-driven intelligence, and guide decisions such as intensive-care unit admission (ICUA). The objective of this study is two-fold, one substantive and one methodological: substantively to evaluate the association of demographic and health records with two related, yet different, outcomes of severe COVID-19 (viz., death and ICUA); methodologically to compare interpretations based on logistic regression and on gradient-boosted decision tree (GBDT) predictions interpreted by means of the Shapley impacts of covariates.

The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the knee in current clinical practice: A retrospective evaluation of the MRI reports within a large NHS trust.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most widely used investigations for knee pain as it provides detailed assessment of the bone and soft tissues. The aim of this study is to report the frequency of each diagnosis identified on MRI scans of the knee and explore the relationship between MRI results and onward treatment.

Methods: Consecutive MRI reports from a large NHS trust performed in 2017 were included in this study.

Associations between socioeconomic deprivation and pharmaceutical prescribing in primary care in England.

Background: Socioeconomic deprivation is associated with health inequality. Previous studies have described associations between primary care prescribing rates and deprivation for individual drugs or drug classes. We explore the correlation between socioeconomic deprivation and the rate of prescribing of individual pharmaceutical drugs, and drug classes, in primary care in England, to identify prescribing inequalities that would require further investigation.