Autism detection based on autism spectrum quotient using weighted average ensemble method

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition that occurs in an individual, wherein it is accompanied by various symptoms such as difficulties in socializing with others. Early detection of ASD patients can assist in preventing various symptoms caused by ASD. The focus of this research is to automate the diagnosis of ASD in an individual based on the results of the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) using weighted average ensemble method. Initially, preprocessing is carried out on the dataset to ensure optimal performance of the resulting model. In the preprocessing step, the filling of missing values and feature selection occurs, where the feature selection method being utilized is p-value. The model in this research uses the weighted average ensemble method, which is the model that combines three machine learning classification algorithms. Eight classification algorithms are tested to identify the three algorithms with the best performance, namely gaussian Naïve Bayes (NB), logistic regression (LR), and random forest (RF). Following the testing, the model constructed using the weighted average ensemble method exhibits the highest performance compared to the model built using a single classification algorithm. The performance matrix used to measure the model’s performance is area under the curve (AUC)/receiver operating characteristic (ROC), with the developed model achieving an AUC/ROC value of 0.912.