title: A clinical decision support system for diagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis based on intradermal skin tests.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Allergic Rhinitis is a universal common disease, especially in populated cities and urban areas. Diagnosis and treatment of Allergic Rhinitis will improve the quality of life of allergic patients. Though skin tests remain the gold standard test for diagnosis of allergic disorders, clinical experts are required for accurate interpretation of test outcomes. This work presents a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to assist junior clinicians in the diagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intradermal Skin tests were performed on patients who had plausible allergic symptoms. Based on patient׳s history, 40 clinically relevant allergens were tested. 872 patients who had allergic symptoms were considered for this study. The rule based classification approach and the clinical test results were used to develop and validate the CDSS. Clinical relevance of the CDSS was compared with the Score for Allergic Rhinitis (SFAR). Tests were conducted for junior clinicians to assess their diagnostic capability in the absence of an expert.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The class based Association rule generation approach provides a concise set of rules that is further validated by clinical experts. The interpretations of the experts are considered as the gold standard. The CDSS diagnoses the presence or absence of rhinitis with an accuracy of 88.31%. The allergy specialist and the junior clinicians prefer the rule based approach for its comprehendible knowledge model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Clinical Decision Support Systems with rule based classification approach assists junior doctors and clinicians in the diagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis to make reliable decisions based on the reports of intradermal skin tests.
authors: Ramanujan Computing Centre, Anna University, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Jabez Christopher
authors: Ramanujan Computing Centre, Anna University, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: nehemiah@annauniv.edu.
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Khanna Nehemiah
authors: Department of Information Science and Technology, Anna University, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Kannan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012882:Skin Tests
keywords: Allergens; Allergic Rhinitis; Clinical decision support system; Rule base; Skin tests