An Ontology for Quality of Life Modeling in Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract

As survivorship chances for cancer improve, the necessity to properly manage the quality of life post-treatment increases. Head and Neck Cancer is one of the most prevalent ones (being the seventh most common cancer in the world). In this paper we introduce the BD4QoL Ontology, which provides a comprehensive and integrated data model for HN cancer survivors. The presented ontology models several relevant areas of the knowledge domain: the patients clinical and demographic data, the questionnaires commonly used to ascertain their QoL and the related behavioral and emotional traits that can be used to infer the QoL.