MRC PhD students

A Consumer Decision Support System (CDSS) for Common Ailments in South Africa.

Vincent Horner is a DST research intern in HIRD (the health informatics R&D co-ordination division) of the Informatics and Knowledge Management Directorate.

His MSc project is about the development of a software program called the Consumer Decision Support System (CDSS) for Common Ailments in South Africa. It is intended for use by members of the public to assess the significance of some common symptoms before seeking professional help, at a location where members of the public can have easy access. The CDSS would be ideal for a public health kiosk or e-health programs of the government.

The motivation for the CDSS is that members of the public often delay seeking help. At present the CDSS assesses the risk for the following illnesses: tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis (which could be caused by cigarette smoking), hypertension, peptic ulcers and malaria. These illnesses were chosen because they are common in South Africa, and are a serious health problem. They are curable, though, if help is sought timeously. There are other illnesses which fit this criterion which may be added later. The CDSS has other potential benefits in the area of patient empowerment.

The CDSS software has been developed and completed for the selected illnesses. In its development and evaluation the CDSS has used innovative methods from Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science. Preliminary evaluation of the CDSS has been carried out as part of Vincent’s dissertation for his MSc in Computer Science at the University of Pretoria.  His MSc project is supervised by Prof Derrick Kourie.

The CDSS is an example of a consumer health informatics (CHI) application. The aim of CHI is to explore how computer technology can be used to assist with addressing health problems from a consumer perspective. In the parlance consumer refers to a member of the public rather than a health professional.

MRC: Lyn Hanmer and Dr. Nolwazi Mbananga
Pretoria University: Prof. Derrick Kourie