From ICD9-CM to MeSH using the UMLS: a how-to guide

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Health Terminology Management
• Biomedical Data Standards

Background:

• Controlled vocabularies are essential for organizing and retrieving medical information.
• The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) aims to integrate diverse biomedical vocabularies.
• Interoperability between coding systems like ICD9-CM and MeSH is crucial for data exchange.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the UMLS in converting International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical Modifications (ICD9-CM) terms to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).
• To assess the feasibility of using UMLS-based translations for information retrieval in MeSH-indexed databases.

Main Methods:

• A systematic method was developed to map ICD9-CM codes to the UMLS Metathesaurus.
• The study analyzed the linkage rate of ICD9-CM terms to MeSH within the UMLS.
• The straightforwardness of the resulting translations was quantified.

Main Results:

• The developed method successfully mapped 30.4% of ICD9-CM terms to the UMLS.
• Of the mapped terms, 95.0% were successfully linked to MeSH.
• Translation was straightforward for 90.4% of the ICD9-CM to MeSH links.

Conclusions:

• The UMLS provides a viable tool for converting ICD9-CM to MeSH, facilitating cross-vocabulary mapping.
• The high rate of straightforward translations suggests potential for effective use in information retrieval systems.
• These findings support the utility of UMLS in enhancing data interoperability and search capabilities in biomedical databases like Medline.