Establishment of a model for predicting preterm birth based on the machine learning algorithm

Background: The purpose of this study was to construct a preterm birth prediction model based on electronic health records and to provide a reference for preterm birth prediction in the future. Methods: This was a cross-sectional design. The risk factors for the outcomes of preterm birth were assessed by multifactor logistic regression analysis. In this study, a logical regression model, decision tree, Naive Bayes, support vector machine, and AdaBoost are used to construct the prediction model. Accuracy, recall, precision, F1 value, and receiver operating characteristic curve, were used to evaluate the prediction performance of the model, and the clinical application of the model was verified. Results: A total of 5411 participants were included and were used for model construction. AdaBoost model has the best prediction ability among the five models. The accuracy of the model for the prediction of “non-preterm birth” was the highest, reaching 100%, and that of “preterm birth” was 72.73%. Conclusions: By constructing a preterm birth prediction model based on electronic health records, we believe that machine algorithms have great potential for preterm birth identification. However, more relevant studies are needed before its application in the clinic.