The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea.

Mathematical or statistical procedures used as aids in making a decision. They are frequently used in medical decision-making.

Use of an interactive computer system designed to assist the physician or other health professional in choosing between certain relationships or variables for the purpose of making a diagnostic or therapeutic decision.

The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization.

A graphic device used in decision analysis, series of decision options are represented as branches (hierarchical).

Computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information and provide support for decision-making in patient care.

A theoretical technique utilizing a group of related constructs to describe or prescribe how individuals or groups of people choose a course of action when faced with several alternatives and a variable amount of knowledge about the determinants of the outcomes of those alternatives.

Patient involvement in the decision-making process in matters pertaining to health.

The ability to understand the nature and effect of the act in which the individual is engaged. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed).

The act of making a selection among two or more alternatives, usually after a period of deliberation.

Games designed to provide information on hypotheses, policies, procedures, or strategies.

Informed consent given by someone other than the patient or research subject.

The condition in which reasonable knowledge regarding risks, benefits, or the future is not available.

An object or a situation that can serve to reinforce a response, to satisfy a motive, or to afford pleasure.

The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.

An activity distinguished primarily by an element of risk in trying to obtain a desired goal, e.g., playing a game of chance for money.

Care provided patients requiring extraordinary therapeutic measures in order to sustain and prolong life.

Withholding or withdrawal of a particular treatment or treatments, often (but not necessarily) life-prolonging treatment, from a patient or from a research subject as part of a research protocol. The concept is differentiated from REFUSAL TO TREAT, where the emphasis is on the health professional's or health facility's refusal to treat a patient or group of patients when the patient or the patient's representative requests treatment. Withholding of life-prolonging treatment is usually indexed only with EUTHANASIA, PASSIVE, unless the distinction between withholding and withdrawing treatment, or the issue of withholding palliative rather than curative treatment, is discussed.

Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence. An ethical principle holds that the autonomy of persons ought to be respected. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

The interactions between physician and patient.

Declarations by patients, made in advance of a situation in which they may be incompetent to decide about their own care, stating their treatment preferences or authorizing a third party to make decisions for them. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Individual's expression of desirability or value of one course of action, outcome, or selection in contrast to others.

Voluntary authorization, by a patient or research subject, with full comprehension of the risks involved, for diagnostic or investigative procedures, and for medical and surgical treatment.

The interactions between the professional person and the family.

Instructions issued by a physician pertaining to the institution, continuation, or withdrawal of life support measures. The concept includes policies, laws, statutes, decisions, guidelines, and discussions that may affect the issuance of such orders.

Discussions with patients and/or their representatives about the goals and desired direction of the patient's care, particularly end-of-life care, in the event that the patient is or becomes incompetent to make decisions.

An approach of practicing medicine with the goal to improve and evaluate patient care. It requires the judicious integration of best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care. This method is to help physicians make proper diagnosis, devise best testing plan, choose best treatment and methods of disease prevention, as well as develop guidelines for large groups of patients with the same disease. (from JAMA 296 (9), 2006)

Medical and nursing care of patients in the terminal stage of an illness.

Interference with the FREEDOM or PERSONAL AUTONOMY of another person, with justifications referring to the promotion of the person's good or the prevention of harm to the person. (from Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 1995); more generally, not allowing a person to make decisions on his or her own behalf.

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

A person authorized to decide or act for another person, for example, a person having durable power of attorney.

The combined discipline of psychology and economics that investigates what happens in markets in which some of the agents display human limitations and complications.

The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.

Failing to prevent death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy by the withdrawal or withholding of life-prolonging treatment.

The degree to which the individual regards the health care service or product or the manner in which it is delivered by the provider as useful, effective, or beneficial.

The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.

The process of discovering or asserting an objective or intrinsic relation between two objects or concepts; a faculty or power that enables a person to make judgments; the process of bringing to light and asserting the implicit meaning of a concept; a critical evaluation of a person or situation.

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.

Differences of opinion or disagreements that may arise, for example, between health professionals and patients or their families, or against a political regime.

The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

Usually refers to the use of mathematical models in the prediction of learning to perform tasks based on the theory of probability applied to responses; it may also refer to the frequency of occurrence of the responses observed in the particular study.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

The absence of a useful purpose or useful result in a diagnostic procedure or therapeutic intervention. The situation of a patient whose condition will not be improved by treatment or instances in which treatment preserves permanent unconsciousness or cannot end dependence on intensive medical care. (From Ann Intern Med 1990 Jun 15;112(12):949)

Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)

Design of patient care wherein institutional resources and personnel are organized around patients rather than around specialized departments. (From Hospitals 1993 Feb 5;67(3):14)

Theoretical representations that simulate psychological processes and/or social processes. These include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.

Written, witnessed declarations in which persons request that if they become disabled beyond reasonable expectation of recovery, they be allowed to die rather than be kept alive by extraordinary means. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

The rostral part of the frontal lobe, bounded by the inferior precentral fissure in humans, which receives projection fibers from the MEDIODORSAL NUCLEUS OF THE THALAMUS. The prefrontal cortex receives afferent fibers from numerous structures of the DIENCEPHALON; MESENCEPHALON; and LIMBIC SYSTEM as well as cortical afferents of visual, auditory, and somatic origin.

The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.

A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Knowing or understanding without conscious use of reasoning. (Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors, 1994)

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

The process by which the nature and meaning of sensory stimuli are recognized and interpreted.

The study of chance processes or the relative frequency characterizing a chance process.

A method of data collection and a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.

Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge.

Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques.

The expected function of a member of the medical profession.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

Usually a written medical and nursing care program designed for a particular patient.

Recording of visual and sometimes sound signals on magnetic tape.

The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity.

Approximate, quantitative reasoning that is concerned with the linguistic ambiguity which exists in natural or synthetic language. At its core are variables such as good, bad, and young as well as modifiers such as more, less, and very. These ordinary terms represent fuzzy sets in a particular problem. Fuzzy logic plays a key role in many medical expert systems.

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.

Criteria and standards used for the determination of the appropriateness of the inclusion of patients with specific conditions in proposed treatment plans and the criteria used for the inclusion of subjects in various clinical trials and other research protocols.

Societal or individual decisions about the equitable distribution of available resources.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

An act performed without delay, reflection, voluntary direction or obvious control in response to a stimulus.

Revealing of information, by oral or written communication.

Standards of conduct that distinguish right from wrong.

The right of the patient or the patient's representative to make decisions with regard to the patient's dying.

Abstract standards or empirical variables in social life which are believed to be important and/or desirable.

The rights of individuals to act and make decisions without external constraints.

A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.

Compliance by health personnel or proxies with the stipulations of ADVANCE DIRECTIVES (or similar directives such as RESUSCITATION ORDERS) when patients are unable to direct their own care.

New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.

A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.

Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.

The end-result or objective, which may be specified or required in advance.

The identification, analysis, and resolution of moral problems that arise in the care of patients. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

The kind of action or activity proper to the judiciary, particularly its responsibility for decision making.

The science of utilization, distribution, and consumption of services and materials.

A learning situation involving more than one alternative from which a selection is made in order to attain a specific goal.

The state or quality of being kind, charitable, or beneficial. (from American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed). The ethical principle of BENEFICENCE requires producing net benefit over harm. (Bioethics Thesaurus)

The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.

The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Clusters of topics that fall within the domain of BIOETHICS, the field of study concerned with value questions that arise in biomedicine and health care delivery.

A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.

Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.

Truthful revelation of information, specifically when the information disclosed is likely to be psychologically painful ("bad news") to the recipient (e.g., revelation to a patient or a patient's family of the patient's DIAGNOSIS or PROGNOSIS) or embarrassing to the teller (e.g., revelation of medical errors).

The internal individual struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, or external and internal demands. In group interactions, competitive or opposing action of incompatibles: antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons). (from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed)

Relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of past experience or practice. The concept includes the acquisition of knowledge.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of the neurological system, processes or phenomena; includes the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Refusal of the health professional to initiate or continue treatment of a patient or group of patients. The refusal can be based on any reason. The concept is differentiated from PATIENT REFUSAL OF TREATMENT see TREATMENT REFUSAL which originates with the patient and not the health professional.

Conceptual response of the person to the various aspects of death, which are based on individual psychosocial and cultural experience.

Tests designed to assess neurological function associated with certain behaviors. They are used in diagnosing brain dysfunction or damage and central nervous system disorders or injury.

The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.

Those physicians who have completed the education requirements specified by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity.

Individuals participating in the health care system for the purpose of receiving therapeutic, diagnostic, or preventive procedures.

Conduct and synthesis of systematic research comparing interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor health conditions. The purpose of this research is to inform patients, providers, and decision-makers, responding to their expressed needs, about which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances. (hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/draftdefinition.html accessed 6/12/2009)

The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding. (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed) Includes understanding by a patient or research subject of information disclosed orally or in writing.

Confidence in or reliance on a person or thing.

Interactions between health personnel and patients.

Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.

Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes.

Works about lists of drugs or collections of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions for the compounding of medicinal preparations. Formularies differ from PHARMACOPOEIAS in that they are less complete, lacking full descriptions of the drugs, their formulations, analytic composition, chemical properties, etc. In hospitals, formularies list all drugs commonly stocked in the hospital pharmacy.

An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of objects, not as they are but as they are conceived to be.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

Differential response to different stimuli.

Computer programs based on knowledge developed from consultation with experts on a problem, and the processing and/or formalizing of this knowledge using these programs in such a manner that the problems may be solved.

Informed consent given by a parent on behalf of a minor or otherwise incompetent child.

Computer-based systems that enable management to interrogate the computer on an ad hoc basis for various kinds of information in the organization, which predict the effect of potential decisions.

One of the convolutions on the medial surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES. It surrounds the rostral part of the brain and CORPUS CALLOSUM and forms part of the LIMBIC SYSTEM.

The exertion of a strong influence or control over others in a variety of settings--administrative, social, academic, etc.

A nursing specialty involving nursing care given to the pregnant patient before, after, or during childbirth.

A subspecialty of internal medicine concerned with the study of neoplasms.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

The determination of the nature of a disease or condition, or the distinguishing of one disease or condition from another. Assessment may be made through physical examination, laboratory tests, or the likes. Computerized programs may be used to enhance the decision-making process.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

Care alleviating symptoms without curing the underlying disease. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

The detailed examination of observable activity or behavior associated with the execution or completion of a required function or unit of work.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

A way of providing health care that is guided by a thoughtful integration of the best available scientific knowledge with clinical expertise. This approach allows the practitioner to critically assess research data, clinical guidelines, and other information resources in order to correctly identify the clinical problem, apply the most high-quality intervention, and re-evaluate the outcome for future improvement.

Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.

Community or individual involvement in the decision-making process.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Published materials which provide an examination of recent or current literature. Review articles can cover a wide range of subject matter at various levels of completeness and comprehensiveness based on analyses of literature that may include research findings. The review may reflect the state of the art. It also includes reviews as a literary form.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.

Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.

In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.

The act or practice of killing for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person or animal from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)

Preferentially rated health-related activities or functions to be used in establishing health planning goals. This may refer specifically to PL93-641.

Application of computer programs designed to assist the physician in solving a diagnostic problem.

Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.

A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.

Statistical formulations or analyses which, when applied to data and found to fit the data, are then used to verify the assumptions and parameters used in the analysis. Examples of statistical models are the linear model, binomial model, polynomial model, two-parameter model, etc.

The largest country in North America, comprising 10 provinces and three territories. Its capital is Ottawa.

Tumors or cancer of the human BREAST.

Works about clinical trials that involve at least one test treatment and one control treatment, concurrent enrollment and follow-up of the test- and control-treated groups, and in which the treatments to be administered are selected by a random process, such as the use of a random-numbers table.

The reciprocal interaction of two or more professional individuals.

Detection of a MUTATION; GENOTYPE; KARYOTYPE; or specific ALLELES associated with genetic traits, heritable diseases, or predisposition to a disease, or that may lead to the disease in descendants. It includes prenatal genetic testing.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Persons with an incurable or irreversible illness at the end stage that will result in death within a short time. (From O'Leary et al., Lexikon: Dictionary of Health Care Terms, Organizations, and Acronyms for the Era of Reform, 1994, p780)

The portion of an interactive computer program that issues messages to and receives commands from a user.

The process of helping patients to effectively and efficiently use the health care system when faced with one or more of these challenges: (1) choosing, understanding, and using health coverage or applying for assistance when uninsured; (2) choosing, using, and understanding different types of health providers and services; (3) making treatment decisions; and (4) managing care received by multiple providers.

Fundamental claims of patients, as expressed in statutes, declarations, or generally accepted moral principles. (Bioethics Thesaurus) The term is used for discussions of patient rights as a group of many rights, as in a hospital's posting of a list of patient rights.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

The ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and use the needed information effectively.

A computer architecture, implementable in either hardware or software, modeled after biological neural networks. Like the biological system in which the processing capability is a result of the interconnection strengths between arrays of nonlinear processing nodes, computerized neural networks, often called perceptrons or multilayer connectionist models, consist of neuron-like units. A homogeneous group of units makes up a layer. These networks are good at pattern recognition. They are adaptive, performing tasks by example, and thus are better for decision-making than are linear learning machines or cluster analysis. They do not require explicit programming.

The ability to foresee what is likely to happen on the basis of past experience. It is largely a frontal lobe function.

The broad dissemination of new ideas, procedures, techniques, materials, and devices and the degree to which these are accepted and used.

Those affective states which can be experienced and have arousing and motivational properties.

The circulation or wide dispersal of information.

A technique of inputting two-dimensional images into a computer and then enhancing or analyzing the imagery into a form that is more useful to the human observer.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).

The observable response an animal makes to any situation.

Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.

Evaluation of biomedical technology in relation to cost, efficacy, utilization, etc., and its future impact on social, ethical, and legal systems.

The prediction or projection of the nature of future problems or existing conditions based upon the extrapolation or interpretation of existing scientific data or by the application of scientific methodology.

The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.

A system for the collection and/or processing of data from various sources, and using the information for policy making and management of health services. It could be paper-based or electronic. (From http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTHEALTHNUTRITIONANDPOPULATION/EXTHSD/0,,contentMDK:22239824~menuPK:376799~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:376793,00.html. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/en/)

A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.

The application of an unpleasant stimulus or penalty for the purpose of eliminating or correcting undesirable behavior.

Care of patients by a multidisciplinary team usually organized under the leadership of a physician; each member of the team has specific responsibilities and the whole team contributes to the care of the patient.

The auxiliary health profession which makes use of PHYSICAL THERAPY MODALITIES to prevent, correct, and alleviate movement dysfunction of anatomic or physiological origin.

A theorem in probability theory named for Thomas Bayes (1702-1761). In epidemiology, it is used to obtain the probability of disease in a group of people with some characteristic on the basis of the overall rate of that disease and of the likelihood of that characteristic in healthy and diseased individuals. The most familiar application is in clinical decision analysis where it is used for estimating the probability of a particular diagnosis given the appearance of some symptoms or test result.

Libraries in which a major proportion of the resources are available in machine-readable format, rather than on paper or MICROFORM.

Theoretical construct used in applied mathematics to analyze certain situations in which there is an interplay between parties that may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests. In a typical game, decision-making "players," who each have their own goals, try to gain advantage over the other parties by anticipating each other's decisions; the game is finally resolved as a consequence of the players' decisions.

Tumors or cancer of the PROSTATE.

Mental activity, not predominantly perceptual, by which one apprehends some aspect of an object or situation based on past learning and experience.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

The process of minimizing risk to an organization by developing systems to identify and analyze potential hazards to prevent accidents, injuries, and other adverse occurrences, and by attempting to handle events and incidents which do occur in such a manner that their effect and cost are minimized. Effective risk management has its greatest benefits in application to insurance in order to avert or minimize financial liability. (From Slee & Slee: Health care terms, 2d ed)

The attitude of a significant portion of a population toward any given proposition, based upon a measurable amount of factual evidence, and involving some degree of reflection, analysis, and reasoning.

Statistical models of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, as well as of financial considerations. For the application of statistics to the testing and quantifying of economic theories MODELS, ECONOMETRIC is available.

How information is gathered in personal, academic or work environments and the resources used.

An educational process that provides information and advice to individuals or families about a genetic condition that may affect them. The purpose is to help individuals make informed decisions about marriage, reproduction, and other health management issues based on information about the genetic disease, the available diagnostic tests, and management programs. Psychosocial support is usually offered.

Signals for an action; that specific portion of a perceptual field or pattern of stimuli to which a subject has learned to respond.

The subject's ability to connect 25 numbered and lettered circles in sequence in a specific length of time. A score of 12 or below is suggestive of organic brain damage.

Theory and development of COMPUTER SYSTEMS which perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. Such tasks may include speech recognition, LEARNING; VISUAL PERCEPTION; MATHEMATICAL COMPUTING; reasoning, PROBLEM SOLVING, DECISION-MAKING, and translation of language.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

The observable response of a man or animal to a situation.

Computer-based systems for input, storage, display, retrieval, and printing of information contained in a patient's medical record.

What a person has in mind to do or bring about.