Establishment of Standard Image Finding Names, Synonyms, and Location Names for Glossary of Health Checkup Terms

Abstract

 Conventionally, the terms used for imaging findings in health check-up examinations have been inconsistent among facilities in Japan due to freely using many synonyms. The fact that same results are described in different terms for each facility has been caused inconveniences such as confusion for the examinees being unfamiliar with medical terms and interference with data collection at academic societies. In order to unify the terms, a draft standard terminology was created in collaboration with the Japan Society of Health Evaluation and Promotion, the Japan Medical Association Research Institute, and the Japan Society of Ningen Dock.

 The contents of the joint works were as follows: i) To investigate the registered findings of 816,175 people from 50 randomly selected facilities to confirm the details of the problem, ii) To create standard terminology for 8 types of imaging tests (electrocardiogram, fundus photography, chest X-ray, upper gastrointestinal X-ray, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, abdominal ultrasound, breast ultrasound, mammography), iii) To Collect and list synonyms so that they are automatically converted to standard terms.

 The investigation of the registered findings showed 72,031 of finding names in 8 image examinations due to the use of many synonyms, inconsistent description formats, and mixed half-width and full-width Japanese characters, etc.

 Standard terms consisting of location names and finding names were created, and synonyms with the standard finding names were collected and registered. As a result of the above mentioned works, the 72,031 of findings was organized into a total of 200 standard location names, 650 standard finding names, and 4,965 synonyms.

 In order to build a system that allows easy reference to image findings nationwide, it will be essential to unify the description format in addition to creating standard terms.