2009 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 347-353
This study was performed to capture the overall status of and problems in palliative care from text used in medical charts. Text in medical charts of twelve patients prescribed occupational therapy or physical therapy were analyzed by the text mining method. Text information was visualized by extracting text characteristics and searching for correlations among terms. The most frequently used words were “today” and “possible”. This is because changes in the condition of patients are generally rapid. The next-most-frequent words referred to patient statements such as ‘said’, as well as “appeal”. This is because therapists regard patient statements as important clues in the assessment of the patient. In addition to appeals of hope, patients often make spiritual appeals to therapists in rehabilitation situations. In our facilities, occupational therapy and physical therapy are performed mainly in accordance with a balancing of patient hopes and statements and the requirements of effective physical and occupational therapy. Rehabilitation work will be made more effective if text in large, daily-updated medical charts can be utilized without the use of specific assessment methods.
