A synthetic data generation system for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome questionnaires.

Journal: Scientific reports
Published Date:

Abstract

Artificial intelligence or machine-learning-based models have proven useful for better understanding various diseases in all areas of health science. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) lacks objective diagnostic tests. Some validated questionnaires are used for diagnosis and assessment of disease progression. The availability of a sufficiently large database of these questionnaires facilitates research into new models that can predict profiles that help to understand the etiology of the disease. A synthetic data generator provides the scientific community with databases that preserve the statistical properties of the original, free of legal restrictions, for use in research and education. The initial databases came from the Vall Hebron Hospital Specialized Unit in Barcelona, Spain. 2522 patients diagnosed with ME/CFS were analyzed. Their answers to questionnaires related to the symptoms of this complex disease were used as training datasets. They have been fed for deep learning algorithms that provide models with high accuracy [0.69-0.81]. The final model requires SF-36 responses and returns responses from HAD, SCL-90R, FIS8, FIS40, and PSQI questionnaires. A highly reliable and easy-to-use synthetic data generator is offered for research and educational use in this disease, for which there is currently no approved treatment.

Authors

  • Marcos Lacasa
    ADaS Lab - E-Health Center, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Rambla del Poblenou, 156, 08018, Barcelona, Spain. mlacasaca@uoc.edu.
  • Ferran Prados
    Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK; Center for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
  • José Alegre
    ME/CFS Unit, Division of Rheumatology, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Research Institute Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Jordi Casas-Roma
    ADaS Lab - E-Health Center, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Rambla del Poblenou, 156, 08018, Barcelona, Spain.