Linking Symptom Inventories Using Semantic Textual Similarity.

Journal: Journal of neurotrauma
Published Date: Apr 9, 2025

Abstract

An extensive library of symptom inventories has been developed over time to measure clinical symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), but this variety has led to several long-standing issues. Most notably, results drawn from different settings and studies are not comparable. This creates a fundamental problem in TBI diagnostics and outcome prediction, namely that it is not possible to equate results drawn from distinct tools and symptom inventories. Here, we present an approach using semantic textual similarity (STS) to link symptoms and scores across previously incongruous symptom inventories by ranking item text similarities according to their conceptual likeness. We tested the ability of four pretrained deep learning models to screen thousands of symptom description pairs for related content-a challenging task typically requiring expert panels. Models were tasked to predict symptom severity across four different inventories for 6,607 participants drawn from 16 international data sources. The STS approach achieved 74.8% accuracy across five tasks, outperforming other models tested. Correlation and factor analysis found the properties of the scales were broadly preserved under conversion. This work suggests that incorporating contextual, semantic information can assist expert decision-making processes, yielding broad gains for the harmonization of TBI assessment.

Authors

  • Eamonn Kennedy
    Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center, VA Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Shashank Vadlamani
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Hannah M Lindsey
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Kelly S Peterson
    University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
  • Kristen Dams O'Connor
    Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
  • Ronak Agarwal
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Houshang H Amiri
    Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
  • Raeda K Andersen
    Crawford Research Institute, Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Talin Babikian
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • David A Baron
    Department of Psychiatry, Center for Behavioral Health and Sport, Western University of Health Sciences, Lebanon, Pomona, California, USA.
  • Erin D Bigler
    h Department of Psychology , Brigham Young University , Provo , UT , USA.
  • Karen Caeyenberghs
    Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
  • Lisa Delano-Wood
    VA San Diego Healthcare System; Center of Stress and Mental Health, and Department of Psychiatry, UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA.
  • Seth G Disner
    Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  • Ekaterina Dobryakova
    Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, Kessler Foundation, East Hanover, New Jersey, USA.
  • Blessen C Eapen
    VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • Rachel M Edelstein
    Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
  • Carrie Esopenko
    Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
  • Helen M Genova
    Center for Autism Research, Kessler Foundation, East Hanover, New Jersey, USA.
  • Elbert Geuze
    Brain Research and Innovation Centre, Ministry of Defence, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
  • Naomi J Goodrich-Hunsaker
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Jordan Grafman
    Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  • Asta K Håberg
    Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
  • Cooper B Hodges
    Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
  • Kristen R Hoskinson
    Center for Biobehavioral Health, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
  • Elizabeth S Hovenden
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Andrei Irimia
    Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089.
  • Neda Jahanshad
    Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • Ruchira M Jha
    Departments of Neurology, Translational Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
  • Finian Keleher
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Kimbra Kenney
    Department of Neurology Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine Uniformed Services Bethesda MD USA.
  • Inga K Koerte
    Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Spencer W Liebel
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Abigail Livny
    Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • Marianne Løvstad
    Sunnaas Rehabilitation Centre, Nesodden, Norway.
  • Sarah L Martindale
    W. G. (Bill) Hefner VA Healthcare System, Salisbury, North Carolina, USA.
  • Jeffrey E Max
    Department of Psychiatry, UC San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
  • Andrew R Mayer
    i Department of Translational Neuroscience , The Mind Research Network , Albuquerque , NM , USA.
  • Timothy B Meier
    Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
  • Deleene S Menefee
    Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
  • Abdalla Z Mohamed
    Thompson Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Birtinya, Australia.
  • Stefania Mondello
    Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
  • Martin M Monti
    Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
  • Rajendra A Morey
    Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
  • Virginia Newcombe
    Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  • Mary R Newsome
    c Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Houston , TX , USA.
  • Alexander Olsen
    Department of Psychology, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
  • Nicholas J Pastorek
    Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
  • Mary Jo Pugh
    VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America.
  • Adeel Razi
  • Jacob E Resch
    Department of Kinesiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
  • Jared A Rowland
    W. G. (Bill) Hefner VA Healthcare System, Salisbury, North Carolina, USA.
  • Kelly Russell
    Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
  • Nicholas P Ryan
    Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
  • Randall S Scheibel
    c Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Houston , TX , USA.
  • Adam T Schmidt
    Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA.
  • Gershon Spitz
    Monash-Epworth Rehabilitation Research Centre, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Jaclyn A Stephens
    College of Health and Human Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
  • Assaf Tal
    Biomedical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv Israel.
  • Leah D Talbert
    Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
  • Maria Carmela Tartaglia
    From the Department of Neuroimaging (A.L.Y., S.C.R.W.), Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London; Departments of Computer Science (A.L.Y., D.C.A.) and Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (D.M.C.), Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London; Dementia Research Centre (M.B., L.L.R., R.S.C., G.P., E.T., D.M.C., C.V.G., L.J., J.D.R.), Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Department of Neurology (J.v.S., L.J., H.S.), Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Cognitive Disorders Unit (F.M.), Department of Neurology, Donostia University Hospital; Neuroscience Area (F.M.), Biodonostia Health Research Institute, San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain; Alzheimer's Disease and Other Cognitive Disorders Unit (R.S.-V.), Neurology Service, Hospital Clínic, Institut d'Investigacións Biomèdiques August Pi I Sunyer, University of Barcelona, Spain; Neurology Unit (B.B.), Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy; Clinique Interdisciplinaire de Mémoire, Département des Sciences Neurologiques, CHU de Québec, and Faculté de Médecine (R.L.), Université Laval, Québec; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute (M.M.), and Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases (M.C.T.), University of Toronto, Canada; Center for Alzheimer Research (C.G.), Division of Neurogeriatrics, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Bioclinicum, Karolinska Institutet; Unit for Hereditary Dementias (C.G.), Theme Aging, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden; Fondazione Ca'Granda (D.G.), IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico; University of Milan (D.G.), Centro Dino Ferrari, Italy; Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (J.B.R.), University of Cambridge, UK; Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences (E.F.), University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases (M.S.), Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and Center of Neurology, University of Tübingen; Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) (M.S.), Tübingen, Germany; Laboratory for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurosciences (R.V.), and Leuven Brain Institute (R.V.), KU Leuven; Neurology Service (R.V.), University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium; Faculty of Medicine (A.d.M.), University of Lisbon, Portugal; Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta (F.T.), Milan, Italy; University Hospital of Coimbra (HUC), Neurology Service (I.S.), and Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (I.S.), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University Health Centre (S.D.), and McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute (S.D.), McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (C.B.), Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford; Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology (A.G.), Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, University of Manchester, UK; Departments of Geriatric Medicine and Nuclear Medicine (A.G.), University of Duisburg-Essen; Department of Neurology (J.L., A.D.), Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) (J.L.); Munich Cluster of Systems Neurology (SyNergy) (J.L.), Munich; Department of Neurology (M.O.), University of Ulm, Germany; Departments of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research, and Child Health (S.S.), University of Florence; and IRCCS Don Gnocchi (S.S.), Florence, Italy.
  • Brian A Taylor
    c Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Houston , TX , USA.
  • Sophia I Thomopoulos
    Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • Maya Troyanskaya
    Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
  • Eve M Valera
    Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Harm Jan van der Horn
    The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
  • John D Van Horn
    University of SouthernCalifornia's Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Los Angeles, CA 90033.
  • Ragini Verma
    University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, USA.
  • Benjamin S C Wade
    Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Neurology, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • Willian C Walker
    Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
  • Ashley L Ware
    Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • J Kent Werner
    Department of Neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
  • Keith Owen Yeates
    Department of Psychology, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
  • Ross D Zafonte
    Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Michael M Zeineh
    Department of Radiology, Stanford University, CA, 94305, USA.
  • Brandon Zielinski
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
  • Paul M Thompson
    Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
  • Frank G Hillary
    Department of Psychology, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • David F Tate
    g Missouri Institute of Mental Health, University of Missouri , St. Louis , MO , USA.
  • Elisabeth A Wilde
    c Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center , Houston , TX , USA.
  • Emily L Dennis
    Department of Neurology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

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