Cost-sensitive decision trees applied to medical data

Abstract

Classification plays an important role in medicine, especially for medical diagnosis. Health applications often require classifiers that minimize the total cost, including misclassifications costs and test costs. In fact, there are many reasons for considering costs in medicine, as diagnostic tests are not free and health budgets are limited. Our aim with this work was to define, implement and test a strategy for cost-sensitive learning. We defined an algorithm for decision tree induction that considers costs, including test costs, delayed costs and costs associated with risk. Then we applied our strategy to train and evaluate cost-sensitive decision trees in medical data. Built trees can be tested following some strategies, including group costs, common costs, and individual costs. Using the factor of "risk" it is possible to penalize invasive or delayed tests and obtain decision trees patient-friendly. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.