Data-driven research on eczema: systematic characterization of the field and recommendations for the future
Author(s)
Duverdier, A
Custovic, A
Tanaka, Reiko
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
The past decade has seen a substantial rise in the employment of modern data-driven methods to study atopic dermatitis (AD)/eczema. The objective of this study is to summarise the past and future of data-driven AD research, and identify areas in the field that would benefit from the application of these methods.
Methods
We retrieved the publications that applied multivariate statistics (MS), artificial intelligence (AI, including machine learning-ML), and Bayesian statistics (BS) to AD and eczema research from the SCOPUS database over the last 50 years. We conducted a bibliometric analysis to highlight the publication trends and conceptual knowledge structure of the field, and applied topic modelling to retrieve the key topics in the literature.
Results
Five key themes of data-driven research on AD and eczema were identified: (1) allergic co-morbidities, (2) image analysis and classification, (3) disaggregation, (4) quality of life and treatment response, and (5) risk factors and prevalence. ML&AI methods mapped to studies investigating quality of life, prevalence, risk factors, allergic co-morbidities and disaggregation of AD/eczema, but seldom in studies of therapies. MS was employed evenly between the topics, particularly in studies on risk factors and prevalence. BS was focused on three key topics: treatment, risk factors and allergy. The use of AD or eczema terms was not uniform, with studies applying ML&AI methods using the term eczema more often. Within MS, papers using cluster and factor analysis were often only identified with the term AD. In contrast, those using logistic regression and latent class/transition models were “eczema” papers.
Conclusions
Research areas that could benefit from the application of data-driven methods include the study of the pathogenesis of the condition and related risk factors, its disaggregation into validated subtypes, and personalised severity management and prognosis. We highlight BS as a new and promising approach in AD and eczema research.
The past decade has seen a substantial rise in the employment of modern data-driven methods to study atopic dermatitis (AD)/eczema. The objective of this study is to summarise the past and future of data-driven AD research, and identify areas in the field that would benefit from the application of these methods.
Methods
We retrieved the publications that applied multivariate statistics (MS), artificial intelligence (AI, including machine learning-ML), and Bayesian statistics (BS) to AD and eczema research from the SCOPUS database over the last 50 years. We conducted a bibliometric analysis to highlight the publication trends and conceptual knowledge structure of the field, and applied topic modelling to retrieve the key topics in the literature.
Results
Five key themes of data-driven research on AD and eczema were identified: (1) allergic co-morbidities, (2) image analysis and classification, (3) disaggregation, (4) quality of life and treatment response, and (5) risk factors and prevalence. ML&AI methods mapped to studies investigating quality of life, prevalence, risk factors, allergic co-morbidities and disaggregation of AD/eczema, but seldom in studies of therapies. MS was employed evenly between the topics, particularly in studies on risk factors and prevalence. BS was focused on three key topics: treatment, risk factors and allergy. The use of AD or eczema terms was not uniform, with studies applying ML&AI methods using the term eczema more often. Within MS, papers using cluster and factor analysis were often only identified with the term AD. In contrast, those using logistic regression and latent class/transition models were “eczema” papers.
Conclusions
Research areas that could benefit from the application of data-driven methods include the study of the pathogenesis of the condition and related risk factors, its disaggregation into validated subtypes, and personalised severity management and prognosis. We highlight BS as a new and promising approach in AD and eczema research.
Date Issued
2022-06
Date Acceptance
2022-05-25
Citation
Clinical and Translational Allergy, 2022, 12 (6), pp.1-10
ISSN
2045-7022
Publisher
BioMed Central
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
Clinical and Translational Allergy
Volume
12
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Clinical and Translational Allergy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/clt2.12170
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Allergy
artificial intelligence
atopic dermatitis
bibliometric analysis
statistics
ATOPIC-DERMATITIS
CANCER
IDENTIFICATION
artificial intelligence
atopic dermatitis
bibliometric analysis
statistics
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-06-07