RESUMEN
The COVID-19 pandemic poses a heightened risk to health workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as Indonesia. Due to the limitations to implementing mass RT-PCR testing for health workers, high-performing and cost-effective methodologies must be developed to help identify COVID-19 positive health workers and protect the spearhead of the battle against the pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the application of machine learning classifiers to predict the risk of COVID-19 positivity (by RT-PCR) using data obtained from a survey specific to health workers. Machine learning tools can enhance COVID-19 screening capacity in high-risk populations such as health workers in environments where cost is a barrier to accessibility of adequate testing and screening supplies. We built two sets of COVID-19 Likelihood Meter (CLM) models: one trained on data from a broad population of health workers in Jakarta and Semarang (full model) and tested on the same, and one trained on health workers from Jakarta only (Jakarta model) and tested on an independent population of Semarang health workers. The area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC), average precision (AP), and the Brier score (BS) were used to assess model performance. Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) were used to analyze feature importance. The final dataset for the study included 3979 health workers. For the full model, the random forest was selected as the algorithm of choice. It achieved cross-validation mean AUC of 0.818 {+/-} 0.022 and AP of 0.449 {+/-} 0.028 and was high performing during testing with AUC and AP of 0.831 and 0.428 respectively. The random forest model was well-calibrated with a low mean brier score of 0.122 {+/-} 0.004. A random forest classifier was the best performing model during cross-validation for the Jakarta dataset, with AUC of 0.824 {+/-} 0.008, AP of 0.397 {+/-} 0.019, and BS of 0.102 {+/-} 0.007, but the extra trees classifier was selected as the model of choice due to better generalizability to the test set. The performance of the extra trees model, when tested on the independent set of Semarang health workers, was AUC of 0.672 and AP of 0.508. Our models yielded high predictive performance and may have the potential to be utilized as both a COVID-19 screening tool and a method to identify health workers at greatest risk of COVID-19 positivity, and therefore most in need of testing.
RESUMEN
<p><b>AIM</b>To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of vardenafil, a phosphodiesterase type-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, in men of Asian ethnicity with erectile dysfunction (ED).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In this prospective, double-blind, multinational study, Asian men were randomized to receive vardenafil (10 mg) or placebo (4:1 ratio) for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy variables were the International Index of Erectile Function erectile function domain (IIEF-EF), and Sexual Encounter Profile (SEP) questions related to penetration and intercourse completion. Significant mean improvements were required in all three measures to show positive benefits of vardenafil treatment. Secondary efficacy variables included the Global Assessment Question (GAQ) on erection improvement.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Least-squares mean baseline IIEF-EF domain scores (vardenafil 14.6, placebo 13.4) were consistent with moderate ED. After 12 weeks, vardenafil treatment was associated with significant increases from the baseline in IIEF-EF domain scores compared with the placebo (22.4 vs. 14.3; P<0.001). Vardenafil was associated with significant improvements from baseline in least squares (LS) mean success rates for SEP-2 (vardenafil 82.2 vs. placebo 43.6; P<0.001) and SEP-3 (vardenafil 66.1 vs. placebo 24.0; P<0.001). Positive GAQ responses were reported by 81.8% of vardenafil recipients vs. 24.3% of placebo recipients. Adverse events were reported by 25.4% of the vardenafil group, the majority mild and transient.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Vardenafil (10 mg) is a highly effective and well-tolerated treatment for moderate ED in Asian men. These results add to the increasing amount of data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of vardenafil for the treatment of ED in a range of patient populations.</p>