3 ms·
Methods: We identified searchers in logs of online search activity who issued special queries that are suggestive of a recent diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarci
by seizethecheese 10y ago
Methods: We identified searchers in logs of online search activity who issued special queries that are suggestive of a recent diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. We then went back many months before these landmark queries were made, to examine patterns of symptoms, which were expressed as searches about concerning symptoms. We built statistical classifiers that predicted the future appearance of the landmark queries based on patterns of signals seen in search logs.
Results: We found that signals about patterns of queries in search logs can predict the future appearance of queries that are highly suggestive of a diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. We showed specifically that we can identify 5% to 15% of cases, while preserving extremely low false-positive rates (0.00001 to 0.0001).
- SapphireSun 10y agoIt would be really interesting if after a series of queries, the search engine displayed a little text block that said something like: "We don't often do this, but did you make the following searches regarding the health of yourself or a loved one? ... SEARCHES FOLLOW ... Studies show that a large proportion of people making these searches for medical purposes should talk to a doctor about these symptoms. Here's a number to call if you do not have a personal physician: (555) 555-5555"
- semi-extrinsic 10y agoSo, pancreatic cancer incidence rates are about 10 in 10 000, and they detect ~10% of that. Meanwhile, their false positive rate is as high as 1 in 10 000. Can anyone weigh in on whether that's per user in total? If so, half their warnings are right, half are wrong. Which is not bad at all, but it is quite important for the wording of your warning.