A Study of the Need of Clinical Expert System for Acid-Base Diagnosis

Kim, Myung Han; Lee, Chang Kyu; Lee, Kap No; Jeong, Byung Yong

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Rapid and accurate diagnosis of multiple acid-base disorders is not so easy. The authors evaluated a need of a computer-aided diagnosis program for acid-base disorders through the questions of 25 cases with acid-base disorders in 105 physicians.
METHODS
For 39 college graduated students and 66 housestaffs, we asked them to diagnose 25 sample cases of acid-base disorders, which were selected from the published 36 cases (Horn et. al. 1992, Halperin and Goldstein 1994, Walmsley and White 1988). The 25 questions consisted of 15 cases with single disorder, 8 cases with double disorder and 2 cases with triple disorder.
RESULTS
The 39 college graduated students diagnosed correctly in 55.4%; 79.6% in single disorders, 23.7% in double disorders and 0.0% in triple disorders. The 36 housestaffs (answer rate: 55.4%) diagnosed correctly in 61.7%; 82.4% in single disorders, 38.2% in double disorders and 0.0% in triple disorders.
CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that the physicians can't diagnose acid-base disorders well and that they needs a computer-aided expert system to diagnose the acid-base disorders and to ensure uniform quality of patient care.