Machine learning for prediction of viral hepatitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Lack of accurate and timely diagnosis of hepatitis poses obstacles to effective treatment, disease progression prevention, complication reduction, and life-saving interventions of patients. Utilizing machine learning can greatly enhance the achievement of timely and precise disease diagnosis. Therefore, we carried out this systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the performance of machine learning algorithms in predicting viral hepatitis.Methods: Using an extensive literature search in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases until June 15, 2023, English publications on hepatitis prediction using machine learning algorithms were included. Two authors independently extracted pertinent information from the selected studies. The PRISMA 2020 checklist was followed for study selection and result reporting. The risk of bias was checked using the International Journal of Medical Informatics (IJMEDI) checklist. Data were analyzed using the 'metandi' command in Stata 17.Results: Twenty-one original studies were included, covering 82 algorithms. Sixteen studies utilized five algorithms to predict hepatitis B. Ten studies used five algorithms for hepatitis C prediction. For hepatitis B prediction, the SVM algorithms demonstrated the highest sensitivity (90.0%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 77.0%- 96.0%), specificity (94%; 95% CI: 90.0%-97.0%), and a diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 145 (95% CI: 37.0-559.0). In the case of hepatitis C, the KNN algorithms exhibited the highest sensitivity (80%; 95% CI:30.0%-97.0%), specificity (95%; 95% CI: 58.0%-99.0%), and DOR (72; 95% CI: 3.0-1644.0) for prediction. Conclusion: SVM and KNN demonstrated superior performance in predicting hepatitis. The proper algorithm along with clinical practice could improve hepatitis prediction and management.