Disease Profiling for Computerized Peer Support of Ménière's Disease

Abstract

BackgroundPeer support is an emerging form of person-driven active health care. Chronic conditions such as Ménière’s disease (a disorder of the inner ear) need continuing rehabilitation and support that is beyond the scope of routine clinical medical practice. Hence, peer-support programs can be helpful in supplementing some of the rehabilitation aspects.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to design a computerized data collection system for the peer support of Menière’s disease that is capable in profiling the subject for diagnosis and in assisting with problem solving.MethodsThe expert program comprises several data entries focusing on symptoms, activity limitations, participation restrictions, quality of life, attitude and personality trait, and an evaluation of disease-specific impact. Data was collected from 740 members of the Finnish Ménière’s Federation and utilized in the construction and evaluation of the program.ResultsThe program verifies the diagnosis of a person by using an expert system, and the inference engine selects 50 cases with matched symptom severity by using a nearest neighbor algorithm. These cases are then used as a reference group to compare with the person’s attitude, sense of coherence, and anxiety. The program provides feedback for the person and uses this information to guide the person through the problem-solving process.ConclusionsThis computer-based peer-support program is the first example of an advanced computer-oriented approach using artificial intelligence, both in the profiling of the disease and in profiling the person’s complaints for hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo.

Impact of Ménière’s Disease on Significant Others’ Health and Lives

“…The results also indicate that the SOs need to have instruments to help them develop better coping strategies to be supportive of their patient's condition. In addition, we have previously suggested a peer-support system to SOs that could be operated through the Internet and can prove an effective component of the patient's peer-support program (Rasku et al, 2015). It is noteworthy, however, that the disorder generally had only a marginal effect on SOs' health and life (see Table 1).…”

“…The questionnaire was shortened form of the ICF-based classification of impacts for the patients (Stephens et al, 2010;Pyykk} o et al, 2015a) and from positive aspects (Stephens et al 2010). The ICF classification provided basic framework on the wide spectrum and complex character of the patient-perceived impacts of MD (Levo et al, 2012;Pyykk} o et al, 2015a;Rasku et al, 2015). The questions were rated on a five-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 5 always true; 2 5 often true; 3 5 sometimes true; 4 5 rarely true; and 5 5 never true).…”

Association between Ménière’s disease and vestibular migraine

“…Permission was obtained from the Finnish Ménière Federation (FMF; Suomen Meniere-liitto) to allow access to the FMF registry data anonymously (i.e., without the personally identifiable information of subjects). The registry data contained detailed data on disease that the FMF had collected from their members when establishing the computer based diagnostic and peer support program during the years 2005-2016 [30][31][32][33][34][35]. Under Finnish law, this kind of study conducted in association with patient association does not require ethical approval.…”

Recent Advances in the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

“…AI has also been used to support clinical diagnoses and treatments, decision-making, the Table 4. Continued prediction of prognoses [98][99][100]125,126], disease profiling, the construction of mass spectral databases [43,[127][128][129], the identification or prediction of disease progress [101,105,[107][108][109][110]130], and the confirmation of diagnoses and the utility of treatments [102][103][104]112,131]. Although many algorithms have been applied, some are not consistently reliable, and certain challenges remain.…”