Comparison of Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Down Syndrome During the Screening of the First Trimester of Pregnancy

This paper presents a novel approach for screening women in their first trimester of pregnancy to identify those at high risk of having a child with Down syndrome (DS), using machine learning algorithms. Various machine learning models, including statistical, linear, and ensemble models, were traine...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Eduardo Alonso, Andoni Beristain, Jorge Burgos, Ibai Gurrutxaga
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/10/5401
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Summary:This paper presents a novel approach for screening women in their first trimester of pregnancy to identify those at high risk of having a child with Down syndrome (DS), using machine learning algorithms. Various machine learning models, including statistical, linear, and ensemble models, were trained using a pseudo-anonymized dataset of 90,532 screening patients. This dataset, containing less than 1% positive cases, was obtained from Cruces University Hospital, a public health hospital (Osakidetza) in Baracaldo, Basque Country, Spain. The models incorporate a set of input variables, including demographic variables such as maternal age, weight, ethnicity, smoking status, and diabetes status, as well as laboratory variables like nuchal translucency (NT), pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (B-HCG) levels. The trained classification algorithms achieved ROC-AUC values between 0.970 and 0.982, with sensitivity and specificity of 0.94. The results indicate that machine learning techniques can effectively predict Down syndrome risk in first-trimester screening programs.
ISSN:2076-3417