Developing a Process for the Analysis of User Journeys and the Prediction of Dropout in Digital Health Interventions: Machine Learning Approach
Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Konferenzaufsätze in Fachzeitschriften › Forschung › begutachtet
Authors
Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide a step-by-step process for the analysis of user journey data and eventually to predict dropout in the context of digital health interventions. The process is applied to data from an internet-based intervention for insomnia as a way to illustrate its use. The completion of the program is contingent upon completing 7 sequential cores, which include an initial tutorial core. Dropout is defined as not completing the seventh core.
Methods: Steps of user journey analysis, including data transformation, feature engineering, and statistical model analysis and evaluation, are presented. Dropouts were predicted based on data from 151 participants from a fully automated web-based program (Sleep Healthy Using the Internet) that delivers cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Logistic regression with L1 and L2 regularization, support vector machines, and boosted decision trees were used and evaluated based on their predictive performance. Relevant features from the data are reported that predict user dropout.
Results: Accuracy of predicting dropout (area under the curve [AUC] values) varied depending on the program core and the machine learning technique. After model evaluation, boosted decision trees achieved AUC values ranging between 0.6 and 0.9. Additional handcrafted features, including time to complete certain steps of the intervention, time to get out of bed, and days since the last interaction with the system, contributed to the prediction performance.
Conclusions: The results support the feasibility and potential of analyzing user journey data to predict dropout. Theory-driven handcrafted features increased the prediction performance. The ability to predict dropout at an individual level could be used to enhance decision making for researchers and clinicians as well as inform dynamic intervention regimens.
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Aufsatznummer | e17738 |
| Zeitschrift | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Jahrgang | 22 |
| Ausgabenummer | 10 |
| Anzahl der Seiten | 20 |
| ISSN | 1439-4456 |
| DOIs | |
| Publikationsstatus | Erschienen - 28.10.2020 |
Bibliographische Notiz
Funding Information:
This study was supported by grant R01 MH86758 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The funding source had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The authors thank Christina Frederick, BS, for her help with the study administration tasks. The authors specially thank Gabe D Heath, BA, and Steve P Johnson, BA, developers of the SHUTi intervention, for extracting and making all the data readily available for analysis.
Publisher Copyright:
©Vincent Bremer, Philip I Chow, Burkhardt Funk, Frances P Thorndike, Lee M Ritterband.
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