Testing of the minimum standard terminology (MST) in the United States (US)

Introduction: Clinical studies require data recorded with a common lexicon. The MST is a lexicon for gastrointestinal endoscopy developed by the European Society for Gastointestinal Endoscopy with input from the ASGE (Am J Gastroenterol 1996: 91:191-216A). Retrospective European testing showed that this lexicon is useable. Methods: We prospectively tested the MST by recording the results of endoscopic procedures at 5 sites in the US. If an endoscopist could not find the term he needed, he could type in a new term. Terms not in the lexicon were analyzed to see if they could be expressed using the lexicon. Results by procedure (Proc) and Organ (Org) are below. N is the number of lexicon terms available to describe each reason, finding or maneuver. New terms (New) were not in the lexicon but represented more than 1% of the terms. Synonyms (Sy) were words equivalent to and used more frequently than the MST term. Not used (NU) lexicon terms were chosen less than 1% of the time. Data are from 6 sites for 3-14 months to 11/9/97. Proc No. of Proc Terms in MST, New terms, Synonyms & Not used terms Reason Finding Maneuver N New Sy NU Org N New Sy NU N New Sy NU EGD 5062 18 4 1 2 Eso 33 0 0 18 17 2 1 9 Sto 30 3 0 14 Du 21 2 0 5 Col 3682 22 1 0 7 Col 32 1 0 11 17 10 14 Flex 1312 Col 32 1 0 16 17 4 1 10 ERG 44 27 0 0 15 Bil 14 0 1 1 17 4 1 10 Pan 16 0 0 4 Pap 6 4 0 1 Tot 10800 67 5 1 24 184 11 1 70 68 11 3 43 Conclusion: A few changes are needed to use the MST in the US. Synonyms can be handled by education, but new terms should be added to the lexicon. 137/314 MST terms were used <1% of the time.