A Machine Learning Approach for Early Diagnosis of Cognitive Impairment Using Population-Based Data

The major mechanisms of dementia and cognitive impairment are vascular and neurodegenerative processes. Early diagnosis of cognitive impairment can facilitate timely interventions to mitigate progression.

This study aims to develop a reliable machine learning (ML) model using socio-demographics, vascular risk factors, and structural neuroimaging markers for early diagnosis of cognitive impairment in a multi-ethnic Asian population.

The study consisted of 911 participants from the Epidemiology of Dementia in Singapore study (aged 60- 88 years, 49.6% male). Three ML classifiers, logistic regression, support vector machine, and gradient boosting machine, were developed. Prediction results of independent classifiers were combined in a final ensemble model. Model performances were evaluated on test data using F1 score and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) methods. Post modelling, SHapely Additive exPlanation (SHAP) was applied on the prediction results to identify the predictors that contribute most to the cognitive impairment prediction.

The final ensemble model achieved a F1 score and AUC of 0.87 and 0.80 respectively. Accuracy (0.83), sensitivity (0.86), specificity (0.74) and predictive values (positive 0.88 negative 0.72) of the ensemble model were higher compared to the independent classifiers. Age, ethnicity, highest education attainment and neuroimaging markers were identified as important predictors of cognitive impairment.

This study demonstrates the feasibility of using ML tools to integrate multiple domains of data for reliable diagnosis of early cognitive impairment. The ML model uses easy-to-obtain variables and is scalable for screening individuals with a high risk of developing dementia in a population-based setting.