Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33148619›Full record

ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2020

Consistency of variety of machine learning and statistical models in predicting clinical risks of individual patients: longitudinal cohort study using cardiovascular disease as exemplar.

Yan Li, Matthew Sperrin, Darren M Ashcroft, Tjeerd Pieter van Staa

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
87citing papers in PubMed, 6 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

87 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

4 authors.

Yan LiHealth e-Research Centre, Health Data Research UK North, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Matthew SperrinHealth e-Research Centre, Health Data Research UK North, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Darren M AshcroftCentre for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Tjeerd Pieter van StaaHealth e-Research Centre, Health Data Research UK North, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9363-742X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the consistency of machine learning and statistical techniques in predicting individual level and population level risks of cardiovascular disease and the effects of censoring on risk predictions.

designLongitudinal cohort study from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2018. SETTING AND

participants3.6 million patients from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink registered at 391 general practices in England with linked hospital admission and mortality records.

main outcome measuresModel performance including discrimination, calibration, and consistency of individual risk prediction for the same patients among models with comparable model performance. 19 different prediction techniques were applied, including 12 families of machine learning models (grid searched for best models), three Cox proportional hazards models (local fitted, QRISK3, and Framingham), three parametric survival models, and one logistic model.

resultsThe various models had similar population level performance (C statistics of about 0.87 and similar calibration). However, the predictions for individual risks of cardiovascular disease varied widely between and within different types of machine learning and statistical models, especially in patients with higher risks. A patient with a risk of 9.5-10.5% predicted by QRISK3 had a risk of 2.9-9.2% in a random forest and 2.4-7.2% in a neural network. The differences in predicted risks between QRISK3 and a neural network ranged between -23.2% and 0.1% (95% range). Models that ignored censoring (that is, assumed censored patients to be event free) substantially underestimated risk of cardiovascular disease. Of the 223 815 patients with a cardiovascular disease risk above 7.5% with QRISK3, 57.8% would be reclassified below 7.5% when using another model.

conclusionsA variety of models predicted risks for the same patients very differently despite similar model performances. The logistic models and commonly used machine learning models should not be directly applied to the prediction of long term risks without considering censoring. Survival models that consider censoring and that are explainable, such as QRISK3, are preferable. The level of consistency within and between models should be routinely assessed before they are used for clinical decision making.

Indexed as

Machine LearningModels, StatisticalAdultCalibrationCardiovascular DiseasesDecision MakingEnglandFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMedical Record LinkageMiddle AgedPredictive Value of TestsRisk AssessmentSurvival Analysis

Identifiers

PMID33148619
PMCPMC7610202

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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.