In this work we present the methodology for the development of the EMBalance diagnostic Decision Support System (DSS) for balance disorders. Medical data from patients with balance disorders have been analysed using data mining techniques for the development of the diagnostic DSS. The proposed methodology uses various data, ranging from demographic characteristics to clinical examination, auditory and vestibular tests, in order to provide an accurate diagnosis. The system aims to provide decision support for general practitioners (GPs) and experts in the diagnosis of balance disorders as well as to provide recommendations for the appropriate information and data to be requested at each step of the diagnostic process. Detailed results are provided for the diagnosis of 12 balance disorders, both for GPs and experts. Overall, the reported accuracy ranges from 59.3 to 89.8% for GPs and from 74.3 to 92.1% for experts.

Abstract-The effective management of various health conditions depends on and requires appropriate public health policies (PHP). Such policies are important for several aspects of healthcare provision, including: (a) screening for prevention of disease; (b) early diagnosis and treatment; (c) long-term management of chronic diseases and disabilities; and (d) setting-up standards. Although it is widely recognised that the PHP life cycle (i.e., the analysis, action plan design, execution, monitoring and evaluation of public health policies) should be evidenced based, current support for it is mainly in the form of guidelines, and is not supported by data analytics and decision making tools tailored to it. In this paper, we present a novel model driven approach to PHP life cycle management and an integrated platform for realising this life cycle. Our approach is based on PHP decision making models. Such models steer the PHP decision making process by defining the data that need to be collected and the ways in which these data should be analysed in order to produce the evidence required for PHP making. Our work is part of a new research programme on public health policy making for the management of hearing loss, called EVOTION, that is funded by the European Union.

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