title: [Contraception and informatics. SELF, a system to aid medical decisions applied to the prescription of contraceptive methods].
abstract: SELF (systeme en logique floue = system in soft discware), developed by the Computer Sciences Laboratory of the Faculté de Médecine in Nancy, is, by comparison to many systems of assistance in medical decisions already existing, a comprehensive and simple unit enabling the construction and modification of basic knowledge as well as its questioning. The first application of SELF concerned the field of gynecology, by producing a system of assistance applied to the prescription of a contraceptive method. The systematic use of this computer program along with the traditional prescription of a contraceptive method, was tested for three months in the Regional Maternity Hospital by several physicians in the Gynecology Clinic. The system was extremely well accepted and the responses have generated numerous discussions between physicians leading to an improvement of SELF and a better rationalization of the prescription. The medical and paramedical personnel in training at the hospital found SELF to be a teaching tool which, on the basis of simulated cases, permits an easier and more concrete explanation of the practical management in advising or prescribing a contraceptive method.
mesh_terms: D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female; D005103:Expert Systems; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female
vernacular_title: Contraception et informatique. SELF, un système d'aide à la décision médicale appliqué à la prescription des méthodes contraceptives.