Hi Gerard,
On 07/06/2017 07:46, GF wrote:
Dear Silje,
Questions in questionnaire are observations.
But what is it, when a Scale makes use of existing data in the
database and calculates an aggregate result?
(E.g. BMI)
Isn’t the latter an evaluation of existing observations by means of a
rule?
Just on this question - a BMI might be computed, but it's still just a
datum relating to an 'individual', as ontologists would say, so it's an
OBSERVATION in openEHR terms. An EVALUATION is a opinion generated by
comparing fact(s) about an individual to a knowledge based in order to
classify the individual in some way, e.g. 'overweight'.
In the case of BMI the weight and length are real observable
properties of a (human) body.
Question: Is the BMI an observable property? I think not. It is an
aggregate, an evaluation.
not observable in the literal sense, but the view we take in openEHR is
that an Observation is the apprehension of data relating to the
individual, by means of examination and / or instruments. A BMI clearly
falls under this category of information.
It can be the basis for an Evaluation if compared to some BMI normal
ranges, to generate an Evaluation such as 'overweight', as above - this
is an inference. A machine might do this.
Aside:
Someone will probably bring up scores like Apgar, and say they are some
sort of inference, since the constituent scores are based on
statistical/clinical pictures of what is healthy or not (e.g. HR >= 100
bpm etc). Philosophically speaking, this is true, and in theory they
should be an EVALUATION. For practical reasons they are generally
modelled as OBSERVATIONs, since they tend to act as a means of reporting
physical examinations (in a quantitative way), and they get used as
triage variables for determining which treatment path to follow.
In a more perfect world, scores might have their own ENTRY type, but I
don't think the lack of it has done any harm to date.
- thomas
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