Machine learning to support social media empowered patients in cancer care and cancer treatment decisions.

Journal: PloS one
PMID: 30335805

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A primary variant of social media, online support groups (OSG) extend beyond the standard definition to incorporate a dimension of advice, support and guidance for patients. OSG are complementary, yet significant adjunct to patient journeys. Machine learning and natural language processing techniques can be applied to these large volumes of unstructured text discussions accumulated in OSG for intelligent extraction of patient-reported demographics, behaviours, decisions, treatment, side effects and expressions of emotions. New insights from the fusion and synthesis of such diverse patient-reported information, as expressed throughout the patient journey from diagnosis to treatment and recovery, can contribute towards informed decision-making on personalized healthcare delivery and the development of healthcare policy guidelines.

Authors

  • Daswin De Silva
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Weranja Ranasinghe
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Tharindu Bandaragoda
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Achini Adikari
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Nishan Mills
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Lahiru Iddamalgoda
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Damminda Alahakoon
    Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Nathan Lawrentschuk
    Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Division of Cancer Surgery, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  • Raj Persad
    North Bristol, NHS Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom.
  • Evgeny Osipov
    Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
  • Richard Gray
    School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.
  • Damien Bolton
    The Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Australia; Ringwood Private Hospital, Ringwood East, Australia; University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

Keywords

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals