Predicting rapid progression in knee osteoarthritis: a novel and interpretable automated machine learning approach, with specific focus on young patients and early disease

Objectives To facilitate the stratification of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) for new treatment development and clinical trial recruitment, we created an automated machine learning (autoML) tool predicting the rapid progression of knee OA over a 2-year period. Methods We developed autoML models integrating clinical, biochemical, X-ray and MRI data. Using two data sets within the OA Initiative—the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health OA Biomarker Consortium for training and hold-out validation, and the Pivotal Osteoarthritis Initiative MRI Analyses study for external validation—we employed two distinct definitions of clinical outcomes: Multiclass (categorising OA progression into pain and/or radiographic) and binary. Key predictors of progression were identified through advanced interpretability techniques, and subgroup analyses were conducted by age, sex and ethnicity with a focus on early-stage disease. Results Although the most reliable models incorporated all available features, simpler models including only clinical variables achieved robust external validation performance, with area under the precision-recall curve (AUC-PRC) 0.727 (95% CI: 0.726 to 0.728) for multiclass predictions; and AUC-PRC 0.764 (95% CI: 0.762 to 0.766) for binary predictions. Multiclass models performed best in patients with early-stage OA (AUC-PRC 0.724–0.806) whereas binary models were more reliable in patients younger than 60 (AUC-PRC 0.617–0.693). Patient-reported outcomes and MRI features emerged as key predictors of progression, though subgroup differences were noted. Finally, we developed web-based applications to visualise our personalised predictions. Conclusions Our novel tool’s transparency and reliability in predicting rapid knee OA progression distinguish it from conventional ‘black-box’ methods and are more likely to facilitate its acceptance by clinicians and patients, enabling effective implementation in clinical practice.