Table 1.

Table 1 Sample Mapping to SNOMED CT Concepts ^∗

Clinical Phrase Component	SNOMED CT Concept
three months	Three (qualifier value) {79605009}
	Month (qualifier value) {258706009}
intermittent	left lower quadrant pain
left lower quadrant pain	Left lower quadrant pain (finding) {301716002}
off and on	Intermittent (qualifier value) {7087005}
one or a few hours†	One (qualifier value) {38112003}
	Few (qualifier value) {57176003}
	hour (qualifier value) {258702006}
not associated with other symptoms†	Associated procedure (attribute) {363589002}
	Symptom (finding) {19019007}
	Other (qualifier value) {74964007}
constipation	Constipation (disorder) {14760008}‡
diarrhea	Diarrhea (finding) {62315008}
nausea	Nausea (finding) {73879007}
vomiting	Vomiting (disorder) {15387003}‡
hematuria	Blood in urine (finding) {34436003}
melena	Melena (disorder) {2901004}‡
hematochezia	Blood in stool (disorder) {72256005}‡

^∗ The concepts contained in the clinical phrase, “She has had about three months of intermittent left lower quadrant pain off and on. It lasts for one or a few hours. It is not associated with other symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, hematuria, melena, or hematochezia.” SNOMED CT version 20060131, as represented in the Spring, 2006 UMLS distribution was used in this example. Linking semantics were not considered in this example

^† Represening the clinical phrase required a compositional expression in SNOMED CT.

^‡ Best SNOMED CT concept for representing the clinical phrase is a diagnosis (i.e., “disorder”) rather than a symptom (i.e., “finding”) concept.