{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T22:05:37Z","timestamp":1777932337966,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,10]],"date-time":"2024-05-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1715299200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Regione Lombardia with \u201cmisura ricerca COVID19-LINEA2\u201d","award":["RLR12020010362"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RLR12020010362"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Imaging"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) approaches that could learn from large data sources have been identified as useful tools to support clinicians in their decisional process; AI and ML implementations have had a rapid acceleration during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, many ML classifiers are \u201cblack box\u201d to the final user, since their underlying reasoning process is often obscure. Additionally, the performance of such models suffers from poor generalization ability in the presence of dataset shifts. Here, we present a comparison between an explainable-by-design (\u201cwhite box\u201d) model (Bayesian Network (BN)) versus a black box model (Random Forest), both studied with the aim of supporting clinicians of Policlinico San Matteo University Hospital in Pavia (Italy) during the triage of COVID-19 patients. Our aim is to evaluate whether the BN predictive performances are comparable with those of a widely used but less explainable ML model such as Random Forest and to test the generalization ability of the ML models across different waves of the pandemic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jimaging10050117","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,10]],"date-time":"2024-05-10T03:21:04Z","timestamp":1715311264000},"page":"117","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Bayesian Networks in the Management of Hospital Admissions: A Comparison between Explainable AI and Black Box AI during the Pandemic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Giovanna","family":"Nicora","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0379-4665","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Catalano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9193-9309","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chandra","family":"Bortolotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"},{"name":"Radiology Institute, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marina Francesca","family":"Achilli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3212-5305","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gaia","family":"Messana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonio","family":"Lo Tito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alessio","family":"Consonni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Cutti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Direction, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Federico","family":"Comotto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Reply S.p.A. Corso Francia, 110, 10143 Turin, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giulia Maria","family":"Stella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Respiratory Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8716-4694","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angelo","family":"Corsico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Respiratory Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0320-8574","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Perlini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Emergency, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Riccardo","family":"Bellazzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0235-9207","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raffaele","family":"Bruno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"},{"name":"Unit of Infectious Diseases, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5479-2766","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Preda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Unit, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy"},{"name":"Radiology Institute, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8459","DOI":"10.1007\/s12652-021-03612-z","article-title":"Artificial intelligence in disease diagnosis: A systematic literature review, synthesizing framework and future research agenda","volume":"14","author":"Kumar","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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