Development and validation of a deep learning model to predict the survival of patients in ICU

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are often in critical condition and have a high mortality rate. Accurately predicting the survival probability of ICU patients is beneficial to timely care and prioritizing medical resources to improve the overall patient population survival. Models developed by deep learning (DL) algorithms show good performance on many models. However, few DL algorithms have been validated in the dimension of survival time or compared with traditional algorithms.

Variables from the Early Warning Score, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, and APACHE IV models were selected for model development. The Cox regression, random survival forest (RSF), and DL methods were used to develop prediction models for the survival probability of ICU patients. The prediction performance was independently evaluated in the MIMIC-III Clinical Database (MIMIC-III), the eICU Collaborative Research Database (eICU), and Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital Database (SPH).

Forty variables were collected in total for model development. 83 943 participants from 3 databases were included in the study. The New-DL model accurately stratified patients into different survival probability groups with a C-index of >0.7 in the MIMIC-III, eICU, and SPH, performing better than the other models. The calibration curves of the models at 3 and 10 days indicated that the prediction performance was good. A user-friendly interface was developed to enable the model's convenience.

Compared with traditional algorithms, DL algorithms are more accurate in predicting the survival probability during ICU hospitalization. This novel model can provide reliable, individualized survival probability prediction.