A framework for dynamic evidence based medicine using data mining

Abstract

Dynamic evidence-based medicine (DEBM) is defined as the process of finding evidence about the care of individual patients automatically and dynamically in those cases when we cannot rely on any literature or guidelines. In this paper, we develop a framework for DEBM using data mining technologies that make it possible to automatically analyze huge clinical databases and to discover patterns behind them. We define the requirements of a data mining system for DEBM. The following functions are required of the system: (1) support for clinical decision making, and (2) discovery of rare patterns which human beings can hardly find. In order to support clinical decision making, rule discovery methods such as association rule mining are applied to this framework. We adopt a post-analysis approach using a rule base and queries. The discovered rules are collected into a rule base for further analysis. By submitting queries to the rule base, users can obtain keys to evidence for making decisions about clinical care. We preliminarily implement a prototype of a rule base and a post-analysis tool based on our framework. This tool can assist users in analyzing the discovered rules.