Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36662569›Full record

ArticleJMIR medical informatics2023

A Linked Open Data-Based Terminology to Describe Libre/Free and Open-source Software: Incremental Development Study.

Franziska Jahn, Elske Ammenwerth, Verena Dornauer, Konrad Höffner, Michelle Bindel, Thomas Karopka, Alfred Winter

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR medical informatics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. 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

7 authors.

Franziska JahnInstitute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7687-8544
Elske AmmenwerthInstitute of Medical Informatics, University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3244-6918
Verena DornauerInstitute of Medical Informatics, University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5506-8411
Konrad HöffnerInstitute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7358-3217
Michelle BindelInstitute of Medical Informatics, University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tirol, Austria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9383-9678
Thomas KaropkaGNU Solidario, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4448-6853
Alfred WinterInstitute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0179-954X

Funding

Austrian Science Fund FWF I 3726
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is a variety of libre/free and open-source software (LIFOSS) products for medicine and health care. To support health care and IT professionals select an appropriate software product for given tasks, several comparison studies and web platforms, such as Medfloss.org, are available. However, due to the lack of a uniform terminology for health informatics, ambiguous or imprecise terms are used to describe the functionalities of LIFOSS. This makes comparisons of LIFOSS difficult and may lead to inappropriate software selection decisions. Using Linked Open Data (LOD) promises to address these challenges.

objectiveWe describe LIFOSS systematically with the help of the underlying Health Information Technology Ontology (HITO). We publish HITO and HITO-based software product descriptions using LOD to obtain the following benefits: (1) linking and reusing existing terminologies and (2) using Semantic Web tools for viewing and querying the LIFOSS data on the World Wide Web.

methodsHITO was incrementally developed and implemented. First, classes for the description of software products in health IT evaluation studies were identified. Second, requirements for describing LIFOSS were elicited by interviewing domain experts. Third, to describe domain-specific functionalities of software products, existing catalogues of features and enterprise functions were analyzed and integrated into the HITO knowledge base. As a proof of concept, HITO was used to describe 25 LIFOSS products.

resultsHITO provides a defined set of classes and their relationships to describe LIFOSS in medicine and health care. With the help of linked or integrated catalogues for languages, programming languages, licenses, features, and enterprise functions, the functionalities of LIFOSS can be precisely described and compared. We publish HITO and the LIFOSS descriptions as LOD; they can be queried and viewed using different Semantic Web tools, such as Resource Description Framework (RDF) browsers, SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL) queries, and faceted searches. The advantages of providing HITO as LOD are demonstrated by practical examples.

conclusionsHITO is a building block to achieving unambiguous communication among health IT professionals and researchers. Providing LIFOSS product information as LOD enables barrier-free and easy access to data that are often hidden in user manuals of software products or are not available at all. Efforts to establish a unique terminology of medical and health informatics should be further supported and continued.

Indexed as

free/libre open-source softwarehealth informaticshealth ITontologysoftware applicationsterminology

Identifiers

PMID36662569
PMCPMC9898829

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.