context

context

The circumstances that form the setting in which a concept can be appropriately interpreted.

Notes

• Clear recording and appropriate interpretation of context is essential for safe use and accurate analysis of electronic health records.

• The context in which a concept is used can be represented in various ways. Some of the possible representation are shown in the examples section below.

• Appropriate interpretation of different representations of context can be facilitated by terminology binding techniques that resolve multiple models of use into a common model of meaning.

Examples

• A disease such as "asthma" might be referred to in various contexts.

  • A current presenting problem needing treatment

  • A past history recorded during assessment for treatment of another condition

  • A family history recorded routinely during a consultation

• Family history of asthma can be recorded using SNOMED CT in several ways three of which are illustrated here.

  • Use of a single concept from the situation with explicit context domain:

160377001 |Family history: Asthma (situation)|

* Application of a context wrapper to the  _concept_ [ 195967001 | Asthma (disorder)|](http://snomed.info/id/195967001 "195967001 | Asthma \(disorder\) |") :

57177007 |Family history with explicit context (situation)| : { 246090004 |Associated finding (attribute)| = 195967001 |Asthma (disorder)| }

* Use of features of an electronic health record model, such as separate record sections for information with different  _contexts_.

Family History Record Section 195967001 |Asthma (disorder| )

* Based on the definitions of these concepts, a description logic classifier will infer that first two representations above have precisely the same meaning. The third representation can be similarly resolved if the "Family History Record Section" has a  _model or meaning binding_ to the [ 57177007 | Family history with explicit context (situation)|](http://snomed.info/id/57177007 "57177007 | Family history with explicit context \(situation\) |") wrapper.

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