Applying a generic function-based topical relevance typology to structure clinical questions and answers

This study investigates the manifestation and utility of a generic function-based topical relevance typology adapted to the subject domain of clinical medicine. By specifying the functional role of a given piece of relevant information in the overall structure of a topic, the proposed typology provides a generic framework for integrating different pieces of clinical evidence and a multifaceted view of a clinical problem. In medical problem solving structured knowledge plays a key role. The typology provides the conceptual basis for integrating and structuring knowledge; it incorporates and goes beyond existing clinical schemes (such as PICO and illness script) and offers extra assistance for physicians as well as lay users (such as patients and caregivers) to manage the vast amount of diversified evidence, to maintain a structured view of the patient problem at hand, and ultimately to make well-grounded clinical choices. Developed as a generic topical framework across topics and domains, the typology proved useful for clinical medicine once extended with domain-specific definitions and relationships. This article reports the findings of using the adapted and extended typology in the analysis of 26 clinical questions and their evidence-based answers. The article concludes with potential applications of the typology to improve clinical information seeking, organizing, and processing.