The state of standardized musculoskeletal terminology for healthcare reuse:A scoping review

IF 4.1 2区医学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS

International Journal of Medical Informatics Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-04 DOI:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2026.106318

Melinda Wassell , Kerryn Butler-Henderson , Peter McCann , Henry Pollard , Salma Arabi , Wei Wang , Karin Verspoor

{"title":"The state of standardized musculoskeletal terminology for healthcare reuse:A scoping review","authors":"Melinda Wassell , Kerryn Butler-Henderson , Peter McCann , Henry Pollard , Salma Arabi , Wei Wang , Karin Verspoor","doi":"10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2026.106318","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>Standardizing terminology offers opportunities for improved communication and care outcomes. With increasing adoption of clinical terminologies, questions remain about whether they adequately capture the scope of musculoskeletal (MSK) primary care practice. This scoping review examines global development efforts on MSK-relevant standardized terminology and its implementation in clinical practice.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A scoping review was conducted of 6 databases to May 2025. Identified studies (n = 3668) were included (n = 60) if they addressed standardized terminology relevant to the MSK primary care professions of chiropractic, osteopathy, and physiotherapy. Data were extracted on use cases, documentation of MSK information, alignment with national interoperability standards, and implementation status.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Global development efforts span diverse MSK domains across condition types. Five studies achieved consensus around domain-specific terms (including tendinopathies, groin pain, and weight-bearing rehabilitation); in contrast, many studies developed extensive clinical terminology sets. Most studies (82.4%) address the development of terminologies, with few yet addressing how they have been implemented into clinical practice (2.7%).</div><div>Analysis revealed MSK clinicians require documentation beyond existing core interoperability data groups, including 1) function and movement, 2) pain characteristics, 3) psychosocial factors, 4) social determinants of health (environmental factors and participation barriers), 5) intervention effectiveness and clinical outcomes, and 6) person-centered factors.</div><div>Multiple barriers emerged, including technical (EHR integration, cognitive burden), workflow (time requirements, clinical value), professional (training, profession-specific terminology), and knowledge gaps (impact on care quality).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Extensive terminology development has begun yet gaps exist between development and clinical adoption. Terms evolve as research evolves; therefore, MSK professions should actively engage with interoperability groups to establish hierarchical ontologies that incorporate the identified data groups and balance standardization at higher conceptual levels with flexible lexicons to enable terminology growth over time. Establishing feedback mechanisms with EHR vendors to minimize clinicians’ cognitive burden will accelerate adoption and maximize clinical value.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54950,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Medical Informatics","volume":"211 ","pages":"Article 106318"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Medical Informatics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386505626000584","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/2/4 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Standardizing terminology offers opportunities for improved communication and care outcomes. With increasing adoption of clinical terminologies, questions remain about whether they adequately capture the scope of musculoskeletal (MSK) primary care practice. This scoping review examines global development efforts on MSK-relevant standardized terminology and its implementation in clinical practice.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted of 6 databases to May 2025. Identified studies (n = 3668) were included (n = 60) if they addressed standardized terminology relevant to the MSK primary care professions of chiropractic, osteopathy, and physiotherapy. Data were extracted on use cases, documentation of MSK information, alignment with national interoperability standards, and implementation status.

Results

Global development efforts span diverse MSK domains across condition types. Five studies achieved consensus around domain-specific terms (including tendinopathies, groin pain, and weight-bearing rehabilitation); in contrast, many studies developed extensive clinical terminology sets. Most studies (82.4%) address the development of terminologies, with few yet addressing how they have been implemented into clinical practice (2.7%).

Analysis revealed MSK clinicians require documentation beyond existing core interoperability data groups, including 1) function and movement, 2) pain characteristics, 3) psychosocial factors, 4) social determinants of health (environmental factors and participation barriers), 5) intervention effectiveness and clinical outcomes, and 6) person-centered factors.

Multiple barriers emerged, including technical (EHR integration, cognitive burden), workflow (time requirements, clinical value), professional (training, profession-specific terminology), and knowledge gaps (impact on care quality).

Conclusion

Extensive terminology development has begun yet gaps exist between development and clinical adoption. Terms evolve as research evolves; therefore, MSK professions should actively engage with interoperability groups to establish hierarchical ontologies that incorporate the identified data groups and balance standardization at higher conceptual levels with flexible lexicons to enable terminology growth over time. Establishing feedback mechanisms with EHR vendors to minimize clinicians’ cognitive burden will accelerate adoption and maximize clinical value.

查看原文本刊更多论文

医疗保健重用的标准化肌肉骨骼术语的现状：范围审查。

目的：标准化术语为改善沟通和护理结果提供了机会。随着越来越多的临床术语的采用，问题仍然存在，他们是否充分捕捉肌肉骨骼（MSK）初级保健实践的范围。这一范围审查审查了msk相关标准化术语的全球发展努力及其在临床实践中的实施。方法：对截至2025年5月的6个数据库进行范围综述。确定的研究（n = 3668）被纳入（n = 60），如果它们涉及与MSK初级保健专业（脊椎指压疗法、整骨疗法和物理疗法）相关的标准化术语。从用例、MSK信息文档、与国家互操作性标准的一致性和实施状态中提取数据。结果：全球发展努力跨越不同条件类型的MSK领域。五项研究围绕特定领域的术语（包括肌腱病变、腹股沟疼痛和负重康复）达成了共识；相比之下，许多研究开发了广泛的临床术语集。大多数研究（82.4%）涉及术语的发展，很少有研究涉及如何将术语应用于临床实践（2.7%）。分析显示，MSK临床医生需要的文件超出了现有的核心互操作性数据组，包括1)功能和运动，2)疼痛特征，3)心理社会因素，4)健康的社会决定因素（环境因素和参与障碍），5)干预效果和临床结果，以及6)以人为中心的因素。出现了多种障碍，包括技术（EHR整合、认知负担）、工作流程（时间要求、临床价值）、专业（培训、专业特定术语）和知识差距（对护理质量的影响）。结论：广泛的术语开发已经开始，但在开发和临床应用之间存在差距。术语随着研究的发展而演变；因此，MSK专业人员应积极参与互操作性组，以建立包含已识别数据组的分层本体，并在更高的概念级别上平衡标准化和灵活的词汇，以支持术语随着时间的推移而增长。与电子病历供应商建立反馈机制，以减少临床医生的认知负担，将加速采用和最大化临床价值。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

International Journal of Medical Informatics 医学-计算机：信息系统

CiteScore

8.90

自引率

4.10%

发文量

217

审稿时长

42 days

期刊介绍： International Journal of Medical Informatics provides an international medium for dissemination of original results and interpretative reviews concerning the field of medical informatics. The Journal emphasizes the evaluation of systems in healthcare settings. The scope of journal covers: Information systems, including national or international registration systems, hospital information systems, departmental and/or physician''s office systems, document handling systems, electronic medical record systems, standardization, systems integration etc.; Computer-aided medical decision support systems using heuristic, algorithmic and/or statistical methods as exemplified in decision theory, protocol development, artificial intelligence, etc. Educational computer based programs pertaining to medical informatics or medicine in general; Organizational, economic, social, clinical impact, ethical and cost-benefit aspects of IT applications in health care.