OBJECTIVES: To quantify semantic inconsistency in UMLS concepts from the perspective of their hierarchical relations and to show through examples how semantically-inconsistent concepts can help reveal erroneous synonymy relations. METHODS: Inconsistency is defined in reference to concepts from the UMLS Metathesaurus. Consistency is evaluated by comparing the semantic groups of the two concepts in each pair of hierarchically-related concepts. A limited number of inconsistent concepts was inspected manually. RESULTS: 81,512 concepts are inconsistent due to the differences in semantic groups between a concept and its parent. Four examples of wrong synonymy are presented. CONCLUSIONS: A vast majority of inconsistent hierarchical relations are not indicative of any errors. We discovered an interesting semantic pattern along hierarchies, which seems associated with wrong synonymy.
OBJECTIVES: To quantify semantic inconsistency in UMLS concepts from the perspective of their hierarchical relations and to show through examples how semantically-inconsistent concepts can help reveal erroneous synonymy relations. METHODS: Inconsistency is defined in reference to concepts from the UMLS Metathesaurus. Consistency is evaluated by comparing the semantic groups of the two concepts in each pair of hierarchically-related concepts. A limited number of inconsistent concepts was inspected manually. RESULTS: 81,512 concepts are inconsistent due to the differences in semantic groups between a concept and its parent. Four examples of wrong synonymy are presented. CONCLUSIONS: A vast majority of inconsistent hierarchical relations are not indicative of any errors. We discovered an interesting semantic pattern along hierarchies, which seems associated with wrong synonymy.
Authors: Le-Thuy T Tran; Guy Divita; Marjorie E Carter; Joshua Judd; Matthew H Samore; Adi V Gundlapalli Journal: J Biomed Inform Date: 2015-09-08 Impact factor: 6.317
Authors: Benedikt F H Becker; Paul Avillach; Silvana Romio; Erik M van Mulligen; Daniel Weibel; Miriam C J M Sturkenboom; Jan A Kors Journal: Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf Date: 2017-06-28 Impact factor: 2.890