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Network Analysis of Comorbidity Patterns in Heart Failure Patients using Administrative Data
Last modified: 2017-05-22
Abstract
In this work, we investigate the pattern of comorbidities in patients affected
by Heart Failure (HF) through network analysis. Specifically, the pathologies
are kept as the nodes of the network, while the links represent connections between two of them (a link is present if a patient is affected by both the pathologies in his/her last hospitalization). Thus, we study the comorbidity pattern of HF patients hospitalized in Lombardy between 2006 and 2012 using administrative data. We also applied techniques of community detection in order to detect groups of diseases which are more strongly connected. The application of network analysis to such data enables a new perspective in the study of heart failure disease.
by Heart Failure (HF) through network analysis. Specifically, the pathologies
are kept as the nodes of the network, while the links represent connections between two of them (a link is present if a patient is affected by both the pathologies in his/her last hospitalization). Thus, we study the comorbidity pattern of HF patients hospitalized in Lombardy between 2006 and 2012 using administrative data. We also applied techniques of community detection in order to detect groups of diseases which are more strongly connected. The application of network analysis to such data enables a new perspective in the study of heart failure disease.