title: Artificial neural networks in the recognition of the presence of thyroid disease in patients with atrophic body gastritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of artificial neural networks in predicting the presence of thyroid disease in atrophic body gastritis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A dataset of 29 input variables of 253 atrophic body gastritis patients was applied to artificial neural networks (ANNs) using a data optimisation procedure (standard ANNs, T&T-IS protocol, TWIST protocol). The target variable was the presence of thyroid disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Standard ANNs obtained a mean accuracy of 64.4% with a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 59.8% in recognizing atrophic body gastritis patients with thyroid disease. The optimization procedures (T&T-IS and TWIST protocol) improved the performance of the recognition task yielding a mean accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of 74.7% and 75.8%, 78.8% and 81.8%, and 70.5% and 69.9%, respectively. The increase of sensitivity of the TWIST protocol was statistically significant compared to T&T-IS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that artificial neural networks may be taken into consideration as a potential clinical decision-support tool for identifying ABG patients at risk for harbouring an unknown thyroid disease and thus requiring diagnostic work-up of their thyroid status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive and Liver Disease, University La Sapienza, Ospedale Sant'Andrea, Via di Grottarossa 1035, Roma 00189, Italy.
authors.forename: Edith
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lahner
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Intraligi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buscema
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Centanni
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vannella
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grossi
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Annibale
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005757:Gastritis, Atrophic / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000473:pathology*