Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning

Objective To evaluate which factors are the most strongly related to self-perceived health among older men and describe the shape of the association between the related factors and self-perceived health using machine learning.Design and setting This is a cross-sectional study within the population-b...

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Main Authors: David C Currow, Magnus Per Ekström, Max Olsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022-06-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6/e061242.full
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author David C Currow
Magnus Per Ekström
Max Olsson
author_facet David C Currow
Magnus Per Ekström
Max Olsson
author_sort David C Currow
collection DOAJ
description Objective To evaluate which factors are the most strongly related to self-perceived health among older men and describe the shape of the association between the related factors and self-perceived health using machine learning.Design and setting This is a cross-sectional study within the population-based VAScular and Chronic Obstructive Lung disease study (VASCOL) conducted in southern Sweden in 2019.Participants A total of 475 older men aged 73 years from the VASCOL dataset.Measures Self-perceived health was measured using the first item of the Short Form 12. An extreme gradient-boosting model was trained to classify self-perceived health as better (rated: excellent or very good) or worse (rated: fair or poor) using self-reported data on 19 prevalent physician-diagnosed health conditions, intensity of 9 symptoms and 9 demographic and lifestyle factors. Importance of factors was measured in SHapley Additive exPlanations absolute mean and higher scores correspond to greater importance.Results The most important factors for classifying self-perceived health were: pain (0.629), sleep quality (0.595), breathlessness (0.549), fatigue (0.542) and depression (0.526). Health conditions ranked well below symptoms and lifestyle variables. Low levels of symptoms, good sleep quality, regular exercise, alcohol consumption and a body mass index between 22 and 28 were associated with better self-perceived health.Conclusions Symptoms are more strongly related to self-perceived health than health conditions, which suggests that the impacts of health conditions are mediated through symptoms, which could be important targets to improve self-perceived health. Machine learning offers a new way to assess composite constructs such as well-being or quality of life.
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spelling doaj-art-0727954402844561bd60514d1181b2f82025-01-24T04:20:10ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-06-0112610.1136/bmjopen-2022-061242Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learningDavid C Currow0Magnus Per Ekström1Max Olsson2Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, IMPACCT, Ultimo, New South Wales, AustraliaDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, Lund, SwedenFaculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Lund University, Lund, SwedenObjective To evaluate which factors are the most strongly related to self-perceived health among older men and describe the shape of the association between the related factors and self-perceived health using machine learning.Design and setting This is a cross-sectional study within the population-based VAScular and Chronic Obstructive Lung disease study (VASCOL) conducted in southern Sweden in 2019.Participants A total of 475 older men aged 73 years from the VASCOL dataset.Measures Self-perceived health was measured using the first item of the Short Form 12. An extreme gradient-boosting model was trained to classify self-perceived health as better (rated: excellent or very good) or worse (rated: fair or poor) using self-reported data on 19 prevalent physician-diagnosed health conditions, intensity of 9 symptoms and 9 demographic and lifestyle factors. Importance of factors was measured in SHapley Additive exPlanations absolute mean and higher scores correspond to greater importance.Results The most important factors for classifying self-perceived health were: pain (0.629), sleep quality (0.595), breathlessness (0.549), fatigue (0.542) and depression (0.526). Health conditions ranked well below symptoms and lifestyle variables. Low levels of symptoms, good sleep quality, regular exercise, alcohol consumption and a body mass index between 22 and 28 were associated with better self-perceived health.Conclusions Symptoms are more strongly related to self-perceived health than health conditions, which suggests that the impacts of health conditions are mediated through symptoms, which could be important targets to improve self-perceived health. Machine learning offers a new way to assess composite constructs such as well-being or quality of life.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6/e061242.full
spellingShingle David C Currow
Magnus Per Ekström
Max Olsson
Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning
BMJ Open
title Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning
title_full Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning
title_fullStr Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning
title_short Exploring the most important factors related to self-perceived health among older men in Sweden: a cross-sectional study using machine learning
title_sort exploring the most important factors related to self perceived health among older men in sweden a cross sectional study using machine learning
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/6/e061242.full
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AT maxolsson exploringthemostimportantfactorsrelatedtoselfperceivedhealthamongoldermeninswedenacrosssectionalstudyusingmachinelearning