Applicability of machine learning technique in the screening of patients with mild traumatic brain injury

PLoS One. 2023 Aug 24;18(8):e0290721. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290721. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Even though the demand of head computed tomography (CT) in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) has progressively increased worldwide, only a small number of individuals have intracranial lesions that require neurosurgical intervention. As such, this study aims to evaluate the applicability of a machine learning (ML) technique in the screening of patients with mild TBI in the Regional University Hospital of Maringá, Paraná state, Brazil. This is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective study using ML technique to develop a protocol that predicts which patients with an initial diagnosis of mild TBI should be recommended for a head CT. Among the tested models, he linear extreme gradient boosting was the best algorithm, with the highest sensitivity (0.70 ± 0.06). Our predictive model can assist in the screening of mild TBI patients, assisting health professionals to manage the resource utilization, and improve the quality and safety of patient care.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Brain Concussion* / diagnosis
  • Brain Concussion* / physiopathology
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Humans
  • Machine Learning*
  • Retrospective Studies

Associated data

  • figshare/252ab41f8c317206c4a7

Grants and funding

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.