# 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)|](http://snomed.info/id/160377001)

```
* 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)|](http://snomed.info/id/57177007) :\
{ [246090004 |Associated finding (attribute)|](http://snomed.info/id/246090004) = [195967001 |Asthma (disorder)|](http://snomed.info/id/195967001) }

```
* 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|](http://snomed.info/id/195967001) )

```
* 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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