Medical treatment options selection using extended TODIM method with single valued trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers Hong-yu Zhang, Pu Ji, Jian-qiang Wang1 School of Business, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Abstract: The selection process of medical treatment options is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) one, and single valued trapezoidal neutrosophic numbers (SVTNNs) are useful in depicting information and fuzziness in selection processes. Some comparison methods for SVTNNs have been developed and applied in MCDM problems. However, some defects exist in these comparison methods. Furthermore, few studies have been focused on the distance measurements for SVTNNs. Moreover, the previous MCDM methods under SVTNN environments assume that decision makers are perfectly rational. Nevertheless, in practical problems like the selection of medical treatment options, decision makers’ bounded rationality should be considered due to the complexity of human cognition. To address the above deficiencies, in this paper, an improved comparison method and several distance measurements for SVTNNs are defined. Furthermore, a novel MCDM method for medical treatment options selection is established based on an acronym in Portuguese of interactive and MCDM method (TODIM method) with SVTNNs to consider the risk preference of physicians. In addition, a numerical example of the selection of medical treatment options is provided in order to verify the proposed method and the influence of the parameter. Finally, a comparative analysis is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.
Keywords: single valued trapezoidal neutrosophic number; comparison method; distance measurement; TODIM; selection of medical treatment options
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Introduction As a common but significant process in clinical medicine, the selection of medical treatment options is,
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Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 731 88830594; fax: +86 731 88710006. E-mail address: jqwang@csu.edu.cn. 1