1
|
Giannoula A, Comas M, Castells X, Estupiñán-Romero F, Bernal-Delgado E, Sanz F, Sala M. Exploring long-term breast cancer survivors' care trajectories using dynamic time warping-based unsupervised clustering. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2024; 31:820-831. [PMID: 38193340 PMCID: PMC10990519 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocad251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Long-term breast cancer survivors (BCS) constitute a complex group of patients, whose number is estimated to continue rising, such that, a dedicated long-term clinical follow-up is necessary. MATERIALS AND METHODS A dynamic time warping-based unsupervised clustering methodology is presented in this article for the identification of temporal patterns in the care trajectories of 6214 female BCS of a large longitudinal retrospective cohort of Spain. The extracted care-transition patterns are graphically represented using directed network diagrams with aggregated patient and time information. A control group consisting of 12 412 females without breast cancer is also used for comparison. RESULTS The use of radiology and hospital admission are explored as patterns of special interest. In the generated networks, a more intense and complex use of certain healthcare services (eg, radiology, outpatient care, hospital admission) is shown and quantified for the BCS. Higher mortality rates and numbers of comorbidities are observed in various transitions and compared with non-breast cancer. It is also demonstrated how a wealth of patient and time information can be revealed from individual service transitions. DISCUSSION The presented methodology permits the identification and descriptive visualization of temporal patterns of the usage of healthcare services by the BCS, that otherwise would remain hidden in the trajectories. CONCLUSION The results could provide the basis for better understanding the BCS' circulation through the health system, with a view to more efficiently predicting their forthcoming needs and thus designing more effective personalized survivorship care plans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexia Giannoula
- Epidemiology and Evaluation Department, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, 08003, Spain
- Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS), Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- RICAPPS Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria Y Promoción de la Salud, Spain
| | - Mercè Comas
- Epidemiology and Evaluation Department, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, 08003, Spain
- RICAPPS Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria Y Promoción de la Salud, Spain
| | - Xavier Castells
- Epidemiology and Evaluation Department, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, 08003, Spain
- RICAPPS Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria Y Promoción de la Salud, Spain
| | - Francisco Estupiñán-Romero
- RICAPPS Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria Y Promoción de la Salud, Spain
- Data Science for Health Services and Policy Research Group, Institute for Health Sciences (IACS), Zaragoza, Aragon, 50009, Spain
| | - Enrique Bernal-Delgado
- RICAPPS Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria Y Promoción de la Salud, Spain
- Data Science for Health Services and Policy Research Group, Institute for Health Sciences (IACS), Zaragoza, Aragon, 50009, Spain
| | - Ferran Sanz
- Epidemiology and Evaluation Department, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, 08003, Spain
- Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS), Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Sala
- Epidemiology and Evaluation Department, Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, 08003, Spain
- RICAPPS Red de Investigación en Cronicidad, Atención Primaria Y Promoción de la Salud, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Dhafari TB, Pate A, Azadbakht N, Bailey R, Rafferty J, Jalali-Najafabadi F, Martin GP, Hassaine A, Akbari A, Lyons J, Watkins A, Lyons RA, Peek N. A scoping review finds a growing trend in studies validating multimorbidity patterns and identifies five broad types of validation methods. J Clin Epidemiol 2024; 165:111214. [PMID: 37952700 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2023.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Multimorbidity, the presence of two or more long-term conditions, is a growing public health concern. Many studies use analytical methods to discover multimorbidity patterns from data. We aimed to review approaches used in published literature to validate these patterns. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING We systematically searched PubMed and Web of Science for studies published between July 2017 and July 2023 that used analytical methods to discover multimorbidity patterns. RESULTS Out of 31,617 studies returned by the searches, 172 were included. Of these, 111 studies (64%) conducted validation, the number of studies with validation increased from 53.13% (17 out of 32 studies) to 71.25% (57 out of 80 studies) in 2017-2019 to 2022-2023, respectively. Five types of validation were identified: assessing the association of multimorbidity patterns with clinical outcomes (n = 79), stability across subsamples (n = 26), clinical plausibility (n = 22), stability across methods (n = 7) and exploring common determinants (n = 2). Some studies used multiple types of validation. CONCLUSION The number of studies conducting a validation of multimorbidity patterns is clearly increasing. The most popular validation approach is assessing the association of multimorbidity patterns with clinical outcomes. Methodological guidance on the validation of multimorbidity patterns is needed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thamer Ba Dhafari
- Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Alexander Pate
- Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Narges Azadbakht
- Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Rowena Bailey
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - James Rafferty
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Farideh Jalali-Najafabadi
- Centre for Genetics and Genomics Versus Arthritis, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Glen P Martin
- Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Abdelaali Hassaine
- Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK
| | - Ashley Akbari
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Jane Lyons
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Alan Watkins
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Ronan A Lyons
- Population Data Science, Swansea University Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP Swansea, UK
| | - Niels Peek
- Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, UK; NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sánchez-Valle J, Valencia A. Molecular bases of comorbidities: present and future perspectives. Trends Genet 2023; 39:773-786. [PMID: 37482451 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Co-occurrence of diseases decreases patient quality of life, complicates treatment choices, and increases mortality. Analyses of electronic health records present a complex scenario of comorbidity relationships that vary by age, sex, and cohort under study. The study of similarities between diseases using 'omics data, such as genes altered in diseases, gene expression, proteome, and microbiome, are fundamental to uncovering the origin of, and potential treatment for, comorbidities. Recent studies have produced a first generation of genetic interpretations for as much as 46% of the comorbidities described in large cohorts. Integrating different sources of molecular information and using artificial intelligence (AI) methods are promising approaches for the study of comorbidities. They may help to improve the treatment of comorbidities, including the potential repositioning of drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jon Sánchez-Valle
- Life Sciences Department, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Barcelona, 08034, Spain.
| | - Alfonso Valencia
- Life Sciences Department, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Barcelona, 08034, Spain; ICREA, Barcelona, 08010, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Künnapuu K, Ioannou S, Ligi K, Kolde R, Laur S, Vilo J, Rijnbeek PR, Reisberg S. Trajectories: a framework for detecting temporal clinical event sequences from health data standardized to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model. JAMIA Open 2022; 5:ooac021. [PMID: 35571357 PMCID: PMC9097714 DOI: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooac021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Objective
To develop a framework for identifying temporal clinical event trajectories from Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership-formatted observational healthcare data.
Materials and Methods
A 4-step framework based on significant temporal event pair detection is described and implemented as an open-source R package. It is used on a population-based Estonian dataset to first replicate a large Danish population-based study and second, to conduct a disease trajectory detection study for type 2 diabetes patients in the Estonian and Dutch databases as an example.
Results
As a proof of concept, we apply the methods in the Estonian database and provide a detailed breakdown of our findings. All Estonian population-based event pairs are shown. We compare the event pairs identified from Estonia to Danish and Dutch data and discuss the causes of the differences. The overlap in the results was only 2.4%, which highlights the need for running similar studies in different populations.
Conclusions
For the first time, there is a complete software package for detecting disease trajectories in health data.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Solomon Ioannou
- Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Kadri Ligi
- STACC, Tartu, Estonia
- Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Raivo Kolde
- Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Sven Laur
- STACC, Tartu, Estonia
- Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Jaak Vilo
- STACC, Tartu, Estonia
- Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Quretec, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Peter R Rijnbeek
- Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sulev Reisberg
- STACC, Tartu, Estonia
- Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Quretec, Tartu, Estonia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Roni RG, Tsipi H, Ofir BA, Nir S, Robert K. Disease evolution and risk-based disease trajectories in congestive heart failure patients. J Biomed Inform 2021; 125:103949. [PMID: 34875386 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbi.2021.103949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Revised: 10/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is among the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide, and is commonly associated with comorbidities and complex health conditions. Consequently, CHF patients are typically hospitalized frequently, and are at a high risk of premature death. Early detection of an envisaged patient disease trajectory is crucial for precision medicine. However, despite the abundance of patient-level data, cardiologists currently struggle to identify disease trajectories and track the evolution patterns of the disease over time, especially in small groups of patients with specific disease subtypes. The present study proposed a five-step method that allows clustering CHF patients, detecting cluster similarity, and identifying disease trajectories, and promises to overcome the existing difficulties. This work is based on a rich dataset of patients' records spanning ten years of hospital visits. The dataset contains all the health information documented in the hospital during each visit, including diagnoses, lab results, clinical data, and demographics. It utilizes an innovative Cluster Evolution Analysis (CEA) method to analyze the complex CHF population where each subject is potentially associated with numerous variables. We have defined sub-groups for mortality risk levels, which we used to characterize patients' disease evolution by refined data clustering in three points in time over ten years, and generating patients' migration patterns across periods. The results elicited 18, 23, and 25 clusters respective to the first, second, and third visits, uncovering clinically interesting small sub-groups of patients. In the following post-processing stage, we identified meaningful patterns. The analysis yielded fine-grained patient clusters divided into several finite risk levels, including several small-sized groups of high-risk patients. Significantly, the analysis also yielded longitudinal patterns where patients' risk levels changed over time. Four types of disease trajectories were identified: decline, preserved state, improvement, and mixed-progress. This stage is a unique contribution of the work. The resulting fine partitioning and longitudinal insights promise to significantly assist cardiologists in tailoring personalized interventions to improve care quality. Cardiologists could utilize these results to glean previously undetected relationships between symptoms and disease evolution that would allow a more informed clinical decision-making and effective interventions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Shlomo Nir
- The Leviev Heart Center, Sheba Medical Center, Israel.
| | | |
Collapse
|