MODELING DRUG INFORMATION FOR A PRESCRIPTION-ORIENTED KNOWLEDGE-BASE ON DRUGS

There exists little theoretical analysis how to represent knowledge on drugs required for computerized drug-prescription applications. A wor k package drug information modeling is described which was part of the European OPADE project, We describe the content and structure of a Dr ug Knowledge Base (DKB) designed to meet the requirements of decision- support systems in the domain of drug therapy, and to facilitate data transfer from various information sources. The definition of the DKB c ontent is derived from the analysis of information requirements at the various stages of the process of the clinical usage of drugs (prescri bing, administration, and follow-up). The DKB structure results from t he classification of the various data items along two dimensions: (1) entities in the pharmaco-therapeutic domain for which information must be defined (the PharmacoTherapeutic Group, the Component, the Manufac turedPreparation, and the Presentation), and (2) the validity score of the pharmaco-therapeutic information (international, national, or loc al).