TT@MHA: A machine learning-based webpage tool for discriminating thalassemia trait from microcytic hypochromic anemia patients

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and thalassemia trait (TT) are the most common causes of microcytic hypochromic anemia (MHA) and are endemic in lower resource settings and rural areas with poor medical infrastructure. Accurate discrimination between IDA and TT is an essential issue for MHA patients. Although various discriminant formulas have been reported, distinguishing between IDA and TT is still a challenging problem due to the diversity of anemic populations.Methods: We retrospectively collected laboratory data from 798 MHA patients. High proportions of alpha-TT (43.33 %) and TT concomitant with IDA (TT&IDA) patients (14.04 %) were found among TT patients. Five machine learning (ML) approaches, including Liner SVC (L-SVC), support vector machine learning (SVM), Extreme gradient boosting (XGB), Logistic Regression (LR), and Random Forest (RF), were applied to develop a discriminant model. Performance was assessed and compared with six existing discriminant formulas.Results: The RF model was chosen as the discriminant algorithm, namely TT@MHA. TT@MHA was tested in an interlaboratory cohort with a sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of 91.91 %, 91.00 %, 91.53 %, and 0.942, respectively. A webpage tool of TT@MHA (https://dxonline.deepwise.com/prediction/index.html?base Url=%2Fapi%2F&id=26408&topicName=undefined&from=share&platformType=wisdom) was developed to facilitate the healthcare providers in rural areas.Conclusion: The ML-based TT@MHA algorithm, with high sensitivity and specificity, could help discriminate TT patients from MHA patients, especially in populations with high proportions of alpha-TT patients and TT&IDA pa-tients. Moreover, a user-friendly webpage tool for TT@MHA could facilitate healthcare providers in rural areas where advanced technologies are not accessible.

Automated summary

This study aimed to develop a machine learning algorithm to differentiate between iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and thalassemia trait (TT). Laboratory data from 798 patients with microcytic hypochromic anemia (MHA) were collected, and the performance of six existing discriminant formulas was compared. The random forest model was chosen as the discriminant algorithm, and a webpage tool was developed to assist healthcare providers in rural areas.