Machine learning–based prediction model for hypofibrinogenemia after tigecycline therapy

In clinical practice, the incidence of hypofibrinogenemia (HF) after tigecycline (TGC) treatment significantly exceeds the probability claimed by drug manufacturers.

We aimed to identify the risk factors for TGC-associated HF and develop prediction and survival models for TGC-associated HF and the timing of TGC-associated HF.

This single-center retrospective cohort study included 222 patients who were prescribed TGC. First, we used binary logistic regression to screen the independent factors influencing TGC-associated HF, which were used as predictors to train the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA), and clinical impact curve analysis (CICA) were used to evaluate the performance of the model in the verification cohort. Subsequently, we conducted survival analysis using the random survival forest (RSF) algorithm. A consistency index (C-index) was used to evaluate the accuracy of the RSF model in the verification cohort.

Binary logistic regression identified nine independent factors influencing TGC-associated HF, and the XGBoost model was constructed using these nine predictors. The ROC and calibration curves showed that the model had good discrimination (areas under the ROC curves (AUC) = 0.792 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.668–0.915]) and calibration ability. In addition, DCA and CICA demonstrated good clinical practicability of this model. Notably, the RSF model showed good accuracy (C-index = 0.746 [95%CI, 0.652–0.820]) in the verification cohort. Stratifying patients treated with TGC based on the RSF model revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean survival time between the low- and high-risk groups.

The XGBoost model effectively predicts the risk of TGC-associated HF, whereas the RSF model has advantages in risk stratification. These two models have significant clinical practical value, with the potential to reduce the risk of TGC therapy.