The importance of local data bases in medical expert systems: TICITL

The database of our medical expert system, TICITL, contains the records of more than 15,000 gastroenterological patients. The data was collected over fifteen years (1977-1992) during which the patients were followed for at least three months to establish a final diagnosis. Using a new set of 230 gastroenterological cases, TICITL's first diagnosis was similar to the final diagnosis in 90% of the patients. When compared to foreign medical expert systems (M.E.S.), there is a considerable difference in diagnostic accuracy favorable to the local system. Another local program is also as accurate as TICITL. Consequently, we attribute these results to the database and strongly recommend employing real local patients whenever possible to implement M.E.S. in a new geographical area.