The file “Assignment_Trees_Random_Forest_Data.csv” contains the data for 1400 randomly selected patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Each row in the file corresponds to the record for a patient. The data includes demographic information of the patients and the worst reading of some clinical variables during the patient’s first 24-hour stay in the ICU, and nursing assessment of the patients. It is a common practice to use the worst reading in the first 24 hours of patient ICU stay to predict a patient’s in-hospital mortality (recorded as “Mortality” in the data file). The intuition is that the worst reading captures the initial condition of the patient, which may suggest the probability that the patient will survive after hospital care. Nursing assessments that span the body’s physiological systems have high responsivity to a wide range of modes of patient deterioration. The functional deteriorations they reflect may precede vital sign changes and correlate strongly with in-hospital mortality. The list of all the variables and some brief descriptions are provided below. You are encouraged to search online to find out more information related to each clinical variable.
Age: Patient’s age at the ICU admission
Gender: Patient’s gender
Race: Seven categories of race; disguised as “R1” to “R7”
Mortality: Indicator variable, = 1 if the patient died in the hospital, = 0 otherwise
Temperature: Body temperature (unit: Celsius); a vital sign
RespirarionRate: Frequency of breath (unit: times/min); a vital sign
HeartRate: Heart rate (unit: beats/min); a vital sign
SystolicBP: Systolic blood pressure; maximum pressure in blood vessels during a heartbeat (unit: mmHg); a vital sign
DiastolicBP: Diastolic blood pressure; minimum pressure in blood vessels between two heartbeats (unit: mmHg); a vital sign
SpO2: Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation; the amount of oxygen carried by the red blood cells in the body’s arteries; a vital sign
Haemoglobin: Iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells (unit: g/dl)
NumWBC: Amount of white blood cell in the blood (unit: number )
ArterialpO2: Partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (unit: mmHg)
Creatinine: Byproduct of muscle metabolism that is excreted unchanged by the kidneys, an important indicator of renal health (unit: )
Urea: Amount of urea nitrogen in blood (unit: mmol/L)
GCS: Glasgow Coma Scale/Score; a neurological scale that records the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent assessment (unit: point score from 3 (worst) to 15 (best))
naCardiac: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naFoodNutrition: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naGastrointestinal: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naGenitourinary: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
anMusculoskeletal: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naNeurological: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naPain: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naPeripheralVascular: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naRespiratory: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
naSkin: Indicator variable, = 0 if the corresponding criteria in Table 1 are met, = 1 otherwise
Table 1: Nursing Assessment Criteria
Nursing Assessment Criteria
Cardiac Pulse regular, rate 60–100 BPM, skin warm and dry. Blood pressure less than 140/90 and no symptoms of hypotension
Food/Nutrition No difficulty with chewing, swallowing or manual dexterity. Patient consuming > 50% of daily diet ordered as observed
Gastrointestinal The abdomen is soft and non-tender. Bowel sounds present. No nausea or vomiting. Continent. Bowel pattern normal as observed
Genitourinary Voids without difficulty. Continent. Urine clear, yellow to amber as observed or stated. Urinary catheter patent if present
Musculoskeletal Independently able to move all extremities and perform functional activities as observed or stated (includes assistive devices)
Neurological Alert, oriented to person, place, time, and situation. Speech is coherent
Pain Without pain or VAS (visual analog pain scale) < 4 or experiencing chronic pain that is managed effectively
Peripheral/Vascular The extremities are normal or pink and warm. Peripheral pulses palpable. Capillary refill < 3 s. No edema, numbness or tingling
Respiratory Resp. 12–24/min at rest, quiet and regular. Bilateral breath sounds clear. Nail beds and mucous membranes pink. Sputum clear, if present
Skin Skin clean, dry, and intact with no reddened areas. The patient is alert, cooperative and able to reposition himself independently. Braden scale > 15