Prediction Performance of Feature Selectors and Classifiers on Highly Dimensional Transcriptomic Data for Prediction of Weight Loss in Filipino Americans at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes.

Background

Accurate prediction of risk for chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes (T2D) is challenging due to the complex underlying etiology. Integration of more complex data types from sensors and leveraging technologies for collection of -omics datasets may provide greater insights into the specific risk profile for complex diseases.

Methods

We performed a literature review to identify feature selection methods and machine learning models for prediction of weight loss in a previously completed clinical trial (NCT02278939) of a behavioral intervention for weight loss in Filipinos at risk for T2D. Features included demographic and clinical characteristics, dietary factors, physical activity, and transcriptomics.

Results

We identified four feature selection methods: Correlation-based Feature Subset Selection (CfsSubsetEval) with BestFirst, Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test with correlation featureselection (CFS), DESeq2, and max-relevance-min-relevance (MRMR) with linear forward search and mutual information (MI) and four machine learning algorithms: support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, and extra trees that are applicable to prediction of weight loss using the specified feature types.

Conclusion

More accurate prediction of risk for T2D and other complex conditions may be possible by leveraging complex data types from sensors and -omics datasets. Emerging methods for feature selection and machine learning algorithms make this type of modeling feasible.