Organizing Information in Medical Blogs Using a Hybrid Taxonomy-Folksonomy Approach

Journal of Web Engineering, Vol. 1, No.1 (2015) 181-195 © Rinton Press ORGANIZING INFORMATION IN MEDICAL BLOGS USING A HYBRID TAXONOMY-FOLKSONOMY APPROACH YAMEN BATCH Center for Artificial Intelligence Technology (CAIT), Faculty of Information Science and Technology National University of Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia [email protected] MARYATI MOHD. YUSOF Center for Artificial Intelligence Technology (CAIT), Faculty of Information Science and Technology National University of Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia [email protected] Received October 11, 2014 Revised January 5, 2015 The retrieval of health-related information from medical blogs is challenging, primarily because these blogs lack a systematic method to organize their posts. This paper investigated the application of a hybrid taxonomy-folksonomy approach in medical blogs by reviewing the existing approaches that apply the hybrid taxonomy-folksonomy structure in web-based systems. The review showed that the hybrid structure was promising for enhanced classification of resources in web-based systems; particularly in a specific type of medical blog known as a physician-written blog. However, further research is needed to truly identify the long-term impact of the hybrid structure and its benefit in achieving a better organization of other categories of medical blogs. Key words: Web-Based Systems, Medical Blogs, Folksonomy, Taxonomy Communicated by: M. Gaedke & L. Carr 1 Introduction The Internet is leading an evolution in the manner in which health information is delivered to health professionals and consumers [1]. The term “e-health” is broadly used to describe the use of the internet or web technology in healthcare [2]. One of the major advances of the internet was the introduction of the Web 2.0 technology in 2004 [3], which represented a new generation of websites and services that supported online collaboration and sharing among users [4]. This provided benefits for an easy-to-use and free social software [5]. Patients participating in Web 2.0 communities could share information about their conditions, diagnoses and medications with others [6]. Physicians also use Web 2.0 applications (e.g., wikis, blogs, forums) to share advice and expertise with other physicians and keep up-to-date with the latest advances in their specialties [7]. Web 2.0 also strengthened the relationship 182 Organizing Information in Medical Blogs Using a Hybrid Taxonomy-Folksonomy Approach between patients and doctors [8]. Some Web 2.0 sites can assist patients in selecting the best doctor or health service [9], or even make appointments with physicians [10]. A growing interest was witnessed in the web-based collaboration ware (namely wikis, blogs and podcasts) which was adopted in the dissemination of health-related information among health professionals and health consumers [11]. The use of blogs in the healthcare context is growing [12, 13]. A medical blog primarily discuss healthcare topics; i.e., its posts usually focuses on medical topics such as diseases, medical treatments and medications [14]. Medical blogs provide health professionals with new channels to share health information with patients and members of the public [15, 16]. These blogs are categorized based on their authors: blogs that were (1) physician-written, (2) nurse-written and (3) patient-written [17]. Patients use blogs to share their own experiences on health and diseases [17]; a few examples include Diabetes Mine blog and My Breast Cancer blog. In contrast, health professionals use blogs to share their practical knowledge and skills [17]; such as in the Clinical Cases blog and Kevin MD blog. Health professionals and health consumers produce significant health-related content through blogs [18]. However, similar to other Web 2.0 sites, medical blogs have drawbacks that include scattered information of an uncertain quality [16]. Retrieving the content of medical blogs is currently challenging, particularly in terms of extracting relevant health-related information; given the lack of systematic methods in the organization of blog posts [19]. Therefore, these blogs still do not meet the expectations of their users in terms of retrieving relevant health information from their posts [20]. One of the most important functions of web information retrieval systems is to organize contents in such a way that users are able to easily retrieve relevant information [21]. Information organization (i.e., how the information is structured) is a crucial aspect to consider in order to achieve an enhanced information retrieval result [22]. Two types of information organization schemes are used in web- based systems: taxonomies (i.e., predefined classifications) and folksonomies (i.e., user-generated classifications). Taxonomies offered consistent classifications of web resources; however, they were not able to represent users’ vocabularies that continue to emerge in online communities. Folksonomies offered flexible and adaptable classifications of web resources; however, they lacked precision when describing resources. Several approaches have hybridized taxonomies with folksonomies to better organize and classify web resources; unfortunately, how a hybrid taxonomy-folksonomy structure can contribute to organizing information in medical blogs is still not well understood. The aim of this paper is to explore the benefits of applying a hybrid taxonomy-folksonomy in medical blogs. To achieve this aim, first, we discussed the characteristics and content of medical blogs. Second, we compared taxonomies to folksonomies and reviewed the approaches that integrated both classifications in web-based systems. Third, we presented an example of applying the hybrid approach in physician-written blogs highlighting its benefits and limitations. Finally, the paper was concluded with some implications for further research. 2 The Characteristics of Medical Blogs Medical posts contain information about medical concepts such as diagnoses, procedures or medications [23]. To gain a better understanding of their characteristics and contents, some of the research accomplished in the field of medical blogs were reviewed and discussed. To date, only a few studies have focused on the content of medical blogs. Table 1 summarized these studies. Y. Batch and M. M. Yusof 183 Author Objective Method Results Denecke [14] To introduce an The algorithm used an existing Distinguished algorithm to categorize information extraction system informative posts posts according to their (SeReMeD) to extract entities on from affective posts information type and to diagnoses, procedures and in medical blogs determine whether they medications based on a fixed and identified contained medical classification of related medical medical-related content. semantic types. information in posts. Lagu, Kaufman [15] To evaluate the content Two hundred and seventy-one Nearly half of the of blogs written by medical blogs were chosen and blogs discussed health professionals five entries per blog were healthcare-related (i.e., health-related or reviewed to identify content. topics. Over half of otherwise) and the the blogs had characteristics of identifiable authors. medical bloggers. More than half of the blogs described interactions with individual patients or promoted healthcare products. Denecke [24] To introduce a method The method was based on The method helped to study diversity in information extraction and domain improve post medical blogs’ topics. knowledge and was applied to a retrieval by set of medical posts. detecting the medical category of the post. Miller and Pole [12] To analyze the content Identified a sample of 951 health Most blogs focused of health blogs. blogs in 2007 and 2008. All blogs on health topics were U.S.-focused and were from professional updated regularly; their features and patient and topics were analyzed. perspective. Wagner, Paquin [25] To assess the Conducted a content analysis of In order to improve prevalence of various genetics blogs (n = 94) and Genetics blogs genetics-related topics archived blog contents published access, bloggers and perceived between June 15, 2007 and June should consider credibility indicators in 15, 2009. updating blog Genetics Blogs. content frequently and providing information related to their expertise. Greenberg, Yaari [26]To examine the Constructed six blogs on diabetes The participants credibility of medical treatment. Each blog was viewed have an attitude of blogs and their by approximately 60 participants. scepticism and/or published information The participants were asked to fill criticism of many as perceived by their in a short questionnaire that aspects of the readers. measured their perceived information in the credibility of the blog and its blogs in spite of information. their desire and readiness to use this information. Table 1 Summary of studies that discussed the content of medical blogs 184 Organizing Information in Medical Blogs Using a Hybrid Taxonomy-Folksonomy Approach The first study by Denecke [14] introduced an algorithm to classify medical posts according to their information type, and further distinguished informative posts from affective posts. A medical post was considered affective if it described the author’s feelings on treatments, diseases or medications. A medical post was considered informative if it contained information on diseases, treatments or information related to healthcare. An affective post was regarded as unhelpful to the readers since it reflected authors’ emotions and did not hold any

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