Inter-Hospital Advanced and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease Classification Based on Electroencephalogram Measurements via Classical Machine Learning Algorithms

Abstract

Background: In pursuit of diagnostic tools capable of targeting distinct stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), this study explores the potential of electroencephalography (EEG) combined with machine learning (ML) algorithms to identify patients with mild or moderate AD (ADM) and advanced AD (ADA). Objective: This study aims to assess the classification accuracy of six classical ML algorithms using a dataset of 668 patients from multiple hospitals. Methods: The dataset comprised measurements obtained from 668 patients, distributed among control, ADM, and ADA groups, collected from five distinct hospitals between 2011 and 2022. For classification purposes, six classical ML algorithms were employed: support vector machine, Bayesian linear discriminant analysis, decision tree, Gaussian Naïve Bayes, K-nearest neighbor and random forest. Results: The RF algorithm exhibited outstanding performance, achieving a remarkable balanced accuracy of 93.55% for ADA classification and 93.25% for ADM classification. The consistent reliability in distinguishing ADA and ADM patients underscores the potential of the EEG-based approach for AD diagnosis. Conclusions: By leveraging a dataset sourced from multiple hospitals and encompassing a substantial patient cohort, coupled with the straightforwardness of the implemented models, it is feasible to attain notably robust results in AD classification.