Objective: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic disease caused by larval forms (metacestodes) of species belonging to the genus Echinococcus in animals and humans. Cystic echinococcosis can occur in all genders and ages, but is more common in young adults aged 20-44.
Materials and Methods: The aim of this study; The effects of 3 factors affecting the positivity of CE on 1994 patients aged between 1 and 98 years, namely gender, age and pandemic (before and after) were examined. In the study, these factors affecting the positivity of CE were evaluated with the CRT (Classification and RegressionTrees) algorithm, one of the tree-based data mining algorithms.
Results: In this study, the frequency of CE positive patients was 61.3% and the frequency of negative ones was 38.7%. While no factor affecting CE positivity could be detected in the group aged >40.5 years after the pandemic, the age factor affected the positivity before the pandemic (p=0.001). The patients in this group were divided into two groups as age ≤66.5 (Node 15) and age >66.5 (Node 16). In the group with a lower positivity rate >66.5, there was no other factor affecting positivity. Gender was an effective factor in the ≤66.5 age group with a higher positivity rate.
Conclusion: As a result, age variable was determined as the most important factor affecting CE positivity.
Key words: Cystic echinococcosis, data mining, CRT algorithm
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