A retrieval system for the selection and statistical analysis of clinical data.
Within the last years computer-aided clinical documentation has provided researchers and administrators with very large volumes of data for research. User-friendly retrieval tools are needed when processing these clinical databases. Clinical researchers require applications by means of which steps in selection and analysis can be performed in an iterative process. During the deduction of statistical parameters from routinely collected data a number of problems occur that do not appear in the analysis of data gathered within clinical studies. Unlike clinical studies, routine data have complex structures and must first be formatted and above all temporally synchronized. In this paper we will describe the medical retrieval system ArchiMed developed at the Vienna General Hospital. A main objective in the design of this system was to support a joint evaluation of data from clinical studies and routinely collected data. The retrieval system comprises the main functions: Selection of Patients; Selection and Joining of Variables; and Statistical Analysis.