title: Comparison of two data mining techniques in labeling diagnosis to Iranian pharmacy claim dataset: artificial neural network (ANN) versus decision tree model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to evaluate and compare the prediction accuracy of two data mining techniques, including decision tree and neural network models in labeling diagnosis to gastrointestinal prescriptions in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted in three phases: data preparation, training phase, and testing phase. A sample from a database consisting of 23 million pharmacy insurance claim records, from 2004 to 2011 was used, in which a total of 330 prescriptions were assessed and used to train and test the models simultaneously. In the training phase, the selected prescriptions were assessed by both a physician and a pharmacist separately and assigned a diagnosis. To test the performance of each model, a k-fold stratified cross validation was conducted in addition to measuring their sensitivity and specificity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Generally, two methods had very similar accuracies. Considering the weighted average of true positive rate (sensitivity) and true negative rate (specificity), the decision tree had slightly higher accuracy in its ability for correct classification (83.3% and 96% versus 80.3% and 95.1%, respectively). However, when the weighted average of ROC area (AUC between each class and all other classes) was measured, the ANN displayed higher accuracies in predicting the diagnosis (93.8% compared with 90.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the result of this study, artificial neural network and decision tree model represent similar accuracy in labeling diagnosis to GI prescription.
authors.affiliation: 1)Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rezaei-Darzi
authors.affiliation: 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 3)Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farshad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farzadfar
authors.affiliation: 4)Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashemi-Meshkini
authors.affiliation: 1)Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Navidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahmoudi
authors.affiliation: 4)Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varmaghani
authors.affiliation: 1)Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Parinaz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mehdipour
authors.affiliation: 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 5)Department of Network Science and Technology, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soudi Alamdari
authors.affiliation: Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Batool
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tayefi
authors.affiliation: 2)Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Science Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 3)Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shohreh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naderimagham
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Pharmaceutical Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Soleymani
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mesdaghinia
authors.affiliation: Digestive Oncology Research Center, Digestive Disease Research Institute, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delavari
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Kazem
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mohammad
mesh_terms: D057225:Data Mining / Q000379:methods*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003663:Decision Trees; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D015233:Models, Statistical; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer