Adding Machine Learning to Longitudinal PRO Data May Prove Useful in RA

According to the researchers, all variables used in the ML models are available to rheumatologists in their electronic health record systems or are short PROs that can easily be captured in a remote patient monitoring program. Among the 500 patients, all initiating treatment with either golimumab or infliximab, 36% achieved low-disease activity (LDA)--indicated by a CDAI score of 10 or less. The CDAI has 4 components: patient global, physician global, tender joint count, and swollen joint count. The group found that the positive predictive value (PPV) to accurately classify LDA among the patients exceeded 80% at a sensitivity rate of 60% or greater for the best performing models. Among 8 PROs from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36), several were considered useful for classification, although not including information from SF-36 had a minimal effect on model performance.