Wart Treatment Selection with a Decision Tree-Based Approach

Warts are benign tumors caused by human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Although warts can grow in all parts of the human body, plantar warts which are most commonly known as warts, grow on the soles of the hands and feet. Various types of treatment methods can be used to cure the disease. Two of the most common methods for wart treatment is cryotherapy and immunotherapy. Other than that, the most successful treatment method could be selected related to patient attributes. Selection of the best treatment method for wart treatment is an important topic which is researched in many studies in recent years. In this study, the decision tree based algorithm was developed to help physicians to choose the optimum treatment methods for wart treatment. Analyzing the response of patients to the treatment method is the underlying procedure in the algorithm. For this purpose, a dataset that included 180 patients, with plantar and common warts, who had referred to the dermatology clinic of Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran was used. The proposed method in the study gave a good accuracy result in both treatment methods while predictive values in ROC Curves were very high which could help the physicians to select optimum treatment related to patient attributes. Therefore, time and cost will be saved for both physicians and patients.