Development and Validation of a Machine Learning-Based Model for Elevated Depressive Symptom Risk in COPD Patients: A Multi-Cohort Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Depression is a common yet underrecognized comorbidity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Existing prediction models often lack external validation, limiting cross-population generalizability. We aimed to develop and externally test machine learning models for predicting concurrent elevated depressive symptoms in COPD using three international aging cohorts.