A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia

Objective: To develop multivariate vector-ARMA (VARMA) forecast models for predicting emergency department (ED) demand in Western Australia (WA) and compare them to the benchmark univariate autoregressive moving average (ARMA) and Winters’ models. Methods: Seven-year monthly WA state-wide public...

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Main Authors: Aboagye-Sarfo, P., Mai, Q., Sanfilippo, F., Preen, D., Stewart, Louise, Fatovich, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Academic Press 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36279
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author Aboagye-Sarfo, P.
Mai, Q.
Sanfilippo, F.
Preen, D.
Stewart, Louise
Fatovich, D.
author_facet Aboagye-Sarfo, P.
Mai, Q.
Sanfilippo, F.
Preen, D.
Stewart, Louise
Fatovich, D.
author_sort Aboagye-Sarfo, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Objective: To develop multivariate vector-ARMA (VARMA) forecast models for predicting emergency department (ED) demand in Western Australia (WA) and compare them to the benchmark univariate autoregressive moving average (ARMA) and Winters’ models. Methods: Seven-year monthly WA state-wide public hospital ED presentation data from 2006/07 to 2012/13 were modelled. Graphical and VARMA modelling methods were used for descriptive analysis and model fitting. The VARMA models were compared to the benchmark univariate ARMA and Winters’ models to determine their accuracy to predict ED demand. The best models were evaluated by using error correction methods for accuracy. Results: Descriptive analysis of all the dependent variables showed an increasing pattern of ED use with seasonal trends over time. The VARMA models provided a more precise and accurate forecast with smaller confidence intervals and better measures of accuracy in predicting ED demand in WA than the ARMA and Winters’ method. Conclusion: VARMA models are a reliable forecasting method to predict ED demand for strategic planning and resource allocation. While the ARMA models are a closely competing alternative, they under-estimated future ED demand.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2015
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-362792017-09-13T15:56:36Z A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia Aboagye-Sarfo, P. Mai, Q. Sanfilippo, F. Preen, D. Stewart, Louise Fatovich, D. VARMA models Emergency department demand ARMA models Modelling and forecasting medical services Winters’ method Time series analysis Objective: To develop multivariate vector-ARMA (VARMA) forecast models for predicting emergency department (ED) demand in Western Australia (WA) and compare them to the benchmark univariate autoregressive moving average (ARMA) and Winters’ models. Methods: Seven-year monthly WA state-wide public hospital ED presentation data from 2006/07 to 2012/13 were modelled. Graphical and VARMA modelling methods were used for descriptive analysis and model fitting. The VARMA models were compared to the benchmark univariate ARMA and Winters’ models to determine their accuracy to predict ED demand. The best models were evaluated by using error correction methods for accuracy. Results: Descriptive analysis of all the dependent variables showed an increasing pattern of ED use with seasonal trends over time. The VARMA models provided a more precise and accurate forecast with smaller confidence intervals and better measures of accuracy in predicting ED demand in WA than the ARMA and Winters’ method. Conclusion: VARMA models are a reliable forecasting method to predict ED demand for strategic planning and resource allocation. While the ARMA models are a closely competing alternative, they under-estimated future ED demand. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36279 10.1016/j.jbi.2015.06.022 Academic Press fulltext
spellingShingle VARMA models
Emergency department demand
ARMA models
Modelling and forecasting medical services
Winters’ method
Time series analysis
Aboagye-Sarfo, P.
Mai, Q.
Sanfilippo, F.
Preen, D.
Stewart, Louise
Fatovich, D.
A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia
title A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia
title_full A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia
title_fullStr A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia
title_short A comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in Western Australia
title_sort comparison of multivariate and univariate time series approaches to modelling and forecasting emergency department demand in western australia
topic VARMA models
Emergency department demand
ARMA models
Modelling and forecasting medical services
Winters’ method
Time series analysis
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36279