A review of auditing techniques for the unified medical language system
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2020
Abstract
Objective: The study sought to describe the literature related to the development of methods for auditing the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS), with particular attention to identifying errors and inconsistencies of attributes of the concepts in the UMLS Metathesaurus. Materials and Methods: We applied the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) approach by searching the MEDLINE database and Google Scholar for studies referencing the UMLS and any of several terms related to auditing, error detection, and quality assurance. A qualitative analysis and summarization of articles that met inclusion criteria were performed. Results: Eighty-three studies were reviewed in detail. We first categorized techniques based on various aspects including concepts, concept names, and synonymy (n ¼ 37), semantic type assignments (n ¼ 36), hierarchical relationships (n ¼ 24), lateral relationships (n ¼ 12), ontology enrichment (n ¼ 8), and ontology alignment (n ¼ 18). We also categorized the methods according to their level of automation (ie, automated systematic, automated heuristic, or manual) and the type of knowledge used (ie, intrinsic or extrinsic knowledge). Conclusions: This study is a comprehensive review of the published methods for auditing the various conceptual aspects of the UMLS. Categorizing the auditing techniques according to the various aspects will enable the curators of the UMLS as well as researchers comprehensive easy access to this wealth of knowledge (eg, for auditing lateral relationships in the UMLS). We also reviewed ontology enrichment and alignment techniques due to their critical use of and impact on the UMLS.
Identifier
85092907988 (Scopus)
Publication Title
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
External Full Text Location
https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocaa108
e-ISSN
1527974X
ISSN
10675027
PubMed ID
32766692
First Page
1625
Last Page
1638
Issue
10
Volume
27
Grant
R01AG064529
Fund Ref
National Institutes of Health
Recommended Citation
Zheng, Ling; He, Zhe; Wei, Duo; Keloth, Vipina; Fan, Jung Wei; Lindemann, Luke; Zhu, Xinxin; Cimino, James J.; and Perl, Yehoshua, "A review of auditing techniques for the unified medical language system" (2020). Faculty Publications. 4990.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/fac_pubs/4990
