Publikation

Objective consensus from decision trees

Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review - 05.12.2014

Bereiche
PubMed
DOI

Zitation
Putora P, Panje C, Papachristofilou A, Pra A, Hundsberger T, Plasswilm L. Objective consensus from decision trees. Radiat Oncol 2014; 9:270.
Art
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review (Englisch)
Zeitschrift
Radiat Oncol 2014; 9
Veröffentlichungsdatum
05.12.2014
eISSN (Online)
1748-717X
Seiten
270
Kurzbeschreibung/Zielsetzung

UNLABELLED
BackgroundConsensus-based approaches provide an alternative to evidence-based decision making, especially in situations where high-level evidence is limited. Our aim was to demonstrate a novel source of information, objective consensus based on recommendations in decision tree format from multiple sources.MethodsBased on nine sample recommendations in decision tree format a representative analysis was performed. The most common (mode) recommendations for each eventuality (each permutation of parameters) were determined. The same procedure was applied to real clinical recommendations for primary radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Data was collected from 16 radiation oncology centres, converted into decision tree format and analyzed in order to determine the objective consensus.ResultsBased on information from multiple sources in decision tree format, treatment recommendations can be assessed for every parameter combination. An objective consensus can be determined by means of mode recommendations without compromise or confrontation among the parties. In the clinical example involving prostate cancer therapy, three parameters were used with two cut-off values each (Gleason score, PSA, T-stage) resulting in a total of 27 possible combinations per decision tree. Despite significant variations among the recommendations, a mode recommendation could be found for specific combinations of parameters.ConclusionRecommendations represented as decision trees can serve as a basis for objective consensus among multiple parties.