Comparison of Machine Learning Algorithms and Hybrid Computational Intelligence Algorithms for Rehabilitation Classification and Prognosis in Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Despite the increasing application of machine learning and computational intelligence algorithms in medicine and physiotherapy, accurate classification and prognosis algorithms for postoperative patients in the rehabilitation phase are still lacking. The present study was carried out in two phases. In Phase I, classification performance of simple machine learning algorithms applied on data of patients suffering of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA), examining algorithms' classification accuracy and patients' rehabilitation prognosis. In Phase II, hybrid computational intelligence algorithms were developed and applied in order to search for the minimum possible training set that achieves the maximum classification and prognostic performance. The data included features like age and gender, passive range of available motion of all movements (preoperative and postoperative), visual analog pain scale (preoperative and postoperative), and total rehabilitation time. In Phase I, K-nearest neighbors (ΚΝΝ) classification algorithm and K-means clustering algorithm (GAKmeans) were applied. Also, a genetic algorithm (GA)-based clustering algorithm (GAClust) was also applied. To achieve 100% performance on the test set, KNN used 80% of the data in the training set, whereas K-means and GAClust used 90% and 53.3%, respectively. In Phase II, additional computational intelligence algorithms were developed, namely, GAKNN (Genetic Algorithm K-nearest neighbors), GAKmeans, and GA2Clust (genetic algorithm-based clustering algorithm 2), for genetic algorithm optimization of the training set. Genetic algorithm optimization of the training set using hybrid algorithms in Phase II resulted in 100% performance on the test set by using only 35% of the available data for training. The proposed hybrid algorithms can reliably be used for patients' rehabilitation prognosis.