About Dataset

The first 5 variables are all blood tests which are thought to be sensitive to liver disorders that might arise from excessive alcohol consumption. Each line in the dataset constitutes the record of a single male individual.

Important note: The 7th field (selector) has been widely misinterpreted in the past as a dependent variable representing presence or absence of a liver disorder. This is incorrect [1]. The 7th field was created by BUPA researchers as a train/test selector. It is not suitable as a dependent variable for classification. The dataset does not contain any variable representing presence or absence of a liver disorder. Researchers who wish to use this dataset as a classification benchmark should follow the method used in experiments by the donor (Forsyth & Rada, 1986, Machine learning: applications in expert systems and information retrieval) and others (e.g. Turney, 1995, Cost-sensitive classification: Empirical evaluation of a hybrid genetic decision tree induction algorithm), who used the 6th field (drinks), after dichotomising, as a dependent variable for classification. Because of widespread misinterpretation in the past, researchers should take care to state their method clearly.