A Robust Stacking-Based Ensemble Model for Predicting Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the primary cause of mortality worldwide, underscoring the critical importance of developing accurate early prediction models. In this study, we propose an advanced stacking ensemble learning framework to improve the predictive performance for CVD diagnosis. Methods: The methodology encompasses comprehensive data preprocessing, feature selection, cross-validation, and the construction of a stacking architecture integrating Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and CatBoost as base learners. Two meta-learning configurations were examined: Logistic Regression (LR) and a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP). Results: Experimental results indicate that the MLP-based stacking model achieves superior performance, with an accuracy of 97.06%, outperforming existing approaches reported in the literature. Furthermore, the model demonstrates high recall (96.08%) and precision (98%), confirming its robustness and generalization capacity. Conclusions: Compared to individual classifiers and traditional ensemble methods, the proposed approach yields significantly enhanced predictive outcomes, highlighting the potential of deep learning-based stacking strategies in cardiovascular risk assessment.