LAUSR

Background Big data are defined as data sets that are too large or complex for traditional data-processing application software to adequately deal with. Artificial Intelligence (AI) includes various statistical techniques which can deal with big data. The current use of these concepts in publications related to RMDs is unknown. Objectives To assess the current use of big data and AI in the field of RMDs. Methods A systematic literature review (SLR) was performed in PubMed MEDLINE in November 2018, with key words referring to (”big data”[All Fields] OR “Artificial Intelligence”[Majr]) and RMDs. All original reports published in English and referring to big data in RMDs were analyzed. We collected general information on the paper (including year of publication and impact factor of the journal, and country of the first author), and information on the rheumatic disease, the number of data analyzed and the statistical methods used. The analysis was descriptive. Results Of 648 articles, 60 met the inclusion criteria. Among them, 34 (57%) were observational studies including 22 (37%) cohort studies, 3 (5%) were experimental studies, 7 (12%) were literature reviews or literature data mining and 16 (27%) were general reviews which provided no original data. Among the 44 original papers, the mean year of publication was 2015 (SD=5.0, range 1991-2018), with 38 articles (86%) published during the last 5 years. The mean impact factor was 5.1 (SD=8.5, range 1.6-41.9). The mean number of data was 1.4 million (SD=4.6 million, range 212 MRIs – 25 million units of observation). Many articles were written by European (N=16, 36%) or US (N=15, 34%) authors. Most papers were on inflammatory joint diseases (N=17, 37%) (Figure 1); 7 (16%) were applied to -omics and 9 (20%) to imaging. Statistical methods were based on AI in 33 papers (75% of 44), specifically Machine Learning (N=28 articles, 64%) (Figure 2), with varied methods applied (mostly different kinds of Artificial Neural Networks, N=17). Conclusion Big data is an emergent area in the field of RMDs, and we found 60 papers on various diseases and with diverse applications of “big data”. Most of these papers were published very recently, and some in high impact factor journals, indicating the interest of researchers for this field. Overall, 33 publications mentioned AI techniques to deal with big data, whereas 11 used usual statistical methods. The heterogeneity of methods used indicates the need for further research in this area, and for collaboration with data scientist specialized in big data, particularly to determine which statistical methods (traditional or AI) should be used. These findings will inform a EULAR taskforce on big data in RMDs. Disclosure of Interests Joanna KEDRA: None declared, Timothy R. Radstake: None declared, Laure Gossec Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis-Sandoz, Pfizer, Sanofi, and UCB, Consultant for: AbbVie, Biogen, BMS, Celgene, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Nordic Pharma, Novartis-Sandoz, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, and UCB, Consultant for: L Gossec has received honoraria from Celgene as investigator for this study