Analytic Hierarchy Process in Diagnostics of Diseases

Abstract

The study proposes an approach to diagnostics of diseases based on the analytic hierarchy process, which is as follows: by the method of pairwise comparisons, the weight structures of the symptoms of the alleged disease and the patient's disease are investigated, then the measure of the differences between these structures is evaluated, based on this assessment, we can talk about the reliability of the patient's diagnosis. Unlike the classical analytic hierarchy process, there are no alternatives in the developed modification, and diagnostics is carried out only by comparing the weight structures of the symptoms of the alleged disease and the patient's disease, that is, the approach does not imply the establishment of one of the alternative diagnoses, but only confirms (or refutes) the presence of the patient's disease. The method is tested on the basis of a clinical case of a mental disorder, the index of structural differences showed the identity of the weight structures of the symptoms of the alleged disease and the patient's disease, which confirmed the reliability of the patient's diagnosis. The method can be used to assess the reliability of the diagnosis, and, if repeated, the clinical dynamics of the disease in the course of therapy.