Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32935131›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA2020

Reporting of demographic data and representativeness in machine learning models using electronic health records.

Selen Bozkurt, Eli M Cahan, Martin G Seneviratne, Ran Sun, Juan A Lossio-Ventura, John P A Ioannidis, Tina Hernandez-Boussard

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  6. Reporting of race and ethnicity in studies of artificial intelligence in pediatric urology A secondary analysis of the AI-PEDURO online repository.Canadian Urological Association journal = Journal de l'Association des urologues du Canada · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Selen BozkurtDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Eli M CahanDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Martin G SeneviratneDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Ran SunDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Juan A Lossio-VenturaDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
John P A IoannidisDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Tina Hernandez-BoussardDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe development of machine learning (ML) algorithms to address a variety of issues faced in clinical practice has increased rapidly. However, questions have arisen regarding biases in their development that can affect their applicability in specific populations. We sought to evaluate whether studies developing ML models from electronic health record (EHR) data report sufficient demographic data on the study populations to demonstrate representativeness and reproducibility. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe searched PubMed for articles applying ML models to improve clinical decision-making using EHR data. We limited our search to papers published between 2015 and 2019.

resultsAcross the 164 studies reviewed, demographic variables were inconsistently reported and/or included as model inputs. Race/ethnicity was not reported in 64%; gender and age were not reported in 24% and 21% of studies, respectively. Socioeconomic status of the population was not reported in 92% of studies. Studies that mentioned these variables often did not report if they were included as model inputs. Few models (12%) were validated using external populations. Few studies (17%) open-sourced their code. Populations in the ML studies include higher proportions of White and Black yet fewer Hispanic subjects compared to the general US population. DISCUSSION: The demographic characteristics of study populations are poorly reported in the ML literature based on EHR data. Demographic representativeness in training data and model transparency is necessary to ensure that ML models are deployed in an equitable and reproducible manner. Wider adoption of reporting guidelines is warranted to improve representativeness and reproducibility.

Indexed as

DemographyElectronic Health RecordsMachine LearningEthnicityFemaleHumansMaleNutrition SurveysSocioeconomic Factorsclinical decision support, bias, transparencydemographic dataelectronic health recordmachine learning

Identifiers

PMID32935131
PMCPMC7727384

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.