BackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads rapidly among people and causes a global pandemic. It is of great clinical significance to identify COVID-19 patients with high risk of death.MethodsA total of 2,169 adult COVID-19 patients were enrolled from Wuhan, China between February 10th and April 15th, 2020. Difference analyses of medical records were performed between severe and non-severe groups as well as between survivors and non-survivors. In addition, we developed a decision tree classifier to identify risk factors for death outcome.ResultsOf the 2,169 COVID-19 patients, the median age was 61 years and male patients accounted for 48%. A total of 646 patients were diagnosed with severe illness, and 75 patients died. The most common system symptoms were respiratory, systemic and digestive symptoms. Obvious differences in demographics, clinical characteristics and laboratory examinations were found between severe and non-severe groups, as well as between survivors and non-survivors. A machine learning model was developed to predict death outcome in severe patients. The decision tree classifier included three biomarkers, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein and lactic dehydrogenase. The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic of this model was 0.96. This model performed well both in train dataset and test dataset. The accuracy of this model was 0.98 and 0.98, respectively.ConclusionThe machine learning model was robust and effective in predicting the death outcome in severe COVID-19 patients.

Objective To explore the psychological experience of Juvenile patient’s parents in Fangcang shelter hospital during the Omicron wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A qualitative study was conducted by using a phenomenological research method. Sixteen parents of juvenile patients with COVID-19 were recruited from National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai, China) Fangcang shelter hospital (FSH) using purposive sampling. Data were collected by face-to-face in-depth interviews over 27 days, from April 9 to May 6, 2022. The interview data were analyzed using Colaizzi seven-step analysis method. Results The psychological experiences of the parents of juvenile patients in the Fangcang shelter hospital were summarized into three themes: "perception regarding the FSH", "worried about the unmet needs of juvenile patients ", and "the psychological burden after discharge". These themes were classified into 9 sub-themes, including the acceptance of FSH, adaptability to FSH, concerns about cross-infection in the FSH, special needs of infants and young children, psychological needs of preschool children, the learning demands of school-age children, concern about re-positive, fear of sequelae, worry about social acceptance. Conclusion Juvenile patients and their parents in the Fangcang shelter hospitals have both positive and negative experiences. It is suggested that facilities for minors should be planned in advance. Humanistic care for adolescent patients and health education for the public are also critical.