Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21515545›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA

Getting the foot out of the pelvis: modeling problems affecting use of SNOMED CT hierarchies in practical applications.

Alan L Rector, Sam Brandt, Thomas Schneider

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
41citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

41 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. The use of SNOMED CT, 2013-2020: a literature review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2021
    Review
  6. Article
  7. A Neuro-ontology for the neurological examination.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2020
    Article
  8. Characterizing database granularity using SNOMED-CT hierarchy.AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium · 2020
    Observational
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Tracking the Remodeling of SNOMED CT's Bacterial Infectious Diseases.AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium · 2016
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Alan L RectorSchool of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. rector@cs.manchester.ac.uk
Sam Brandt
Thomas Schneider

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectives(a) To determine the extent and range of errors and issues in the Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine-Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) hierarchies as they affect two practical projects. (b) To determine the origin of issues raised and propose methods to address them.

methodsThe hierarchies for concepts in the Core Problem List Subset published by the Unified Medical Language System were examined for their appropriateness in two applications. Anomalies were traced to their source to determine whether they were simple local errors, systematic inferences propagated by SNOMED's classification process, or the result of problems with SNOMED's schemas. Conclusions were confirmed by showing that altering the root cause and reclassifying had the intended effects, and not others. MAIN

resultsMajor problems were encountered, involving concepts central to medicine including myocardial infarction, diabetes, and hypertension. Most of the issues raised were systematic. Some exposed fundamental errors in SNOMED's schemas, particularly with regards to anatomy. In many cases, the root cause could only be identified and corrected with the aid of a classifier. LIMITATIONS: This is a preliminary 'experiment of opportunity.' The results are not exhaustive; nor is consensus on all points definitive.

conclusionsThe SNOMED CT hierarchies cannot be relied upon in their present state in our applications. However, systematic quality assurance and correction are possible and practical but require sound techniques analogous to software engineering and combined lexical and semantic techniques. Until this is done, anyone using SNOMED codes should exercise caution. Errors in the hierarchies, or attempts to compensate for them, are likely to compromise interoperability and meaningful use.

Indexed as

Systematized Nomenclature of MedicineDiseaseHumansModels, TheoreticalQuality ControlReproducibility of Results

Identifiers

PMID21515545
PMCPMC3128394

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.