Discriminant analysis of radiation therapy procedures: The patterns of care process survey for carcinoma of the larynx

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Abstract
Discriminant analysis was applied to larynx data from the Patterns of Care Study (PCS) in order to evaluate and classify radiation therapy procedures. Since PCS has recorded information on a large number of separate procedures, a method was needed to treat them coherently. Discriminant analysis provided such a method through a comprehensive score of performance. The particular discriminant score used was calculated from the contrast between facilities with and without radiation therapy resident training programs. Because residents drastically affect the practice of radiation therapy in a facility, this factor provided a foundation for analyzing the procedures themselves. Results of the discriminant analysis were used to derive a condensed list of generalized procedural criteria which contains almost all the discrimination information of the original procedures and which elucidates their relative importance and the relations among them.

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