Ontology Engineering for Gastric Dystemperament in Persian Medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Developing an ontology can help collecting and sharing information in traditional medicine including Persian medicine in a well-defined format. The present study aimed to develop an ontology for gastric dystemperament in the Persian medicine. METHODS: This was a mixed-methods study conducted in 2019. The first stage was related to providing an ontology requirements specification document. In the second stage, important terms, concepts, and their relationships were identified via literature review and expert panels. Then, the results derived from the second stage were refined and validated using the Delphi method in three rounds. Finally, in the fourth stage, the ontology was evaluated in terms of consistency and coherence. RESULTS: In this study, 241 concepts related to different types of gastric dystemperament, diagnostic criteria, and treatments in the Persian medicine were identified through literature review and expert panels, and 12 new concepts were suggested during the Delphi study. In total, after performing three rounds of the Delphi study, 233 concepts were identified. Finally, an ontology was developed with 71 classes, and the results of the evaluation study revealed that the ontology was consistent and coherent. CONCLUSION: In this study, an ontology was created for gastric dystemperament in the Persian medicine. This ontology can be used for designing future systems, such as case-based reasoning and expert systems. Moreover, the use of other evaluation methods is suggested to construct a more complete and precise ontology.

Oncology Information System: A Qualitative Study of Users' Requirements.

BACKGROUND: Cancer care is a complex care process and is associated with generating a variety of data during the care process. Therefore, it seems that designing and using information systems is necessary to enhance the accessibility, organization and management of cancer-related data. The aim of this study was to identify users' requirements of an oncology information system (OIS). METHODS: This was a qualitative study conducted in 2018. In depth semi-structured interviews were performed with clinicians and non-clinicians in five teaching hospitals to identify users' requirements. Data were analyzed by using framework analysis. RESULTS: The four themes emerged from data analysis included: a) methods of recording cancer data in the hospitals, b) required cancer data in different departments, c) comprehensive cancer care documentation, and d) required functions of an oncology information system. CONCLUSION: According to the results, currently, electronic documentation is less frequently used for cancer patients. Therefore, an extensive effort is needed to identify users' requirements before designing and implementing an oncology information system. As multidisciplinary teams are involved in cancer care, all potential users and their requirements should be taken into account. Such a system can help to collect and use cancer data effectively.

Web and mobile-based technologies for monitoring high-risk pregnancies

INTRODUCTION: High-risk pregnancy is an illness in which there are severe complications and problems that may cause fetal loss and requires continuous care. It seems that using telemedicine technology is helpful to provide wider access to prenatal care. The aim of this study was to compare the feasibility of using web-based and mobile-based technologies in caring for high-risk pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study and the participants included midwives and gynaecologists who worked at teaching hospitals. The data were collected by using two five-point Likert scale questionnaires which were designed based on the literature review. The questionnaires included two main sections: demographic questions and questions related to five aspects of a feasibility study. Face and content validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by the experts and the reliability was checked by using the test-retest method. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: In this study, 79 questionnaires were completed by 50 midwives (63.29%) and 29 gynaecologists (36.71%). Overall, midwives (p=0.001) and gynaecologists (p=0.003) believed that using mobile-based technologies was more feasible than using web-based technologies in caring for high-risk pregnancies. CONCLUSION: It seems that planning for the future technological direction and providing mobile-based applications should be taken into account and prioritised to improve the quality of prenatal care and to increase access to healthcare services for high-risk pregnancies.

Development and Evaluation of Ontologies in Traditional Medicine: A Review Study.

BACKGROUND: Development of ontologies in traditional medicine can be a foundation for other applications of informatics in this field. Despite the importance of the development of ontologies in traditional medicine, there are few review studies in this area. This study aims to review different methods for ontology development and evaluation in traditional medicine. METHODS: This review study was performed in 2019. To find related papers, six databases including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, IEEE Xplore, and SpringerLink were searched. Initially, 761 articles were identified. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 22 articles were selected to review different methods for ontology development and evaluation in traditional medicine. RESULTS: Five different methods were used for ontology development in traditional medicine, namely conventional, customized, semiautomatic, upper-level, and large-scale methods. The results showed that ontology evaluation was only considered in 32% of the studies. The common methods used for ontology evaluation were competency questions, expert-based evaluation, and automatic detection of inconsistency errors. CONCLUSION: Development of ontologies is of high importance for organizing knowledge in traditional medicine, as this branch of medicine is often not documented or is documented in local languages. The results of this study can help ontology developers to be familiar with the common methods of ontology development and evaluation in traditional medicine and use them for future research.