Content and Modeling

• Main hierarchies

  • Terminology for nutrition diagnosis is predominantly from the Clinical Finding hierarchy within SNOMED CT. This hierarchy includes concepts related to nutrition-related health issues, conditions, and diagnoses, such as malnutrition, nutrient deficiencies, and dietary imbalances.

• Key Attributes and Value Ranges
  • A range of attributes is available to represent the properties for concepts within this hierarchy (Clinical Finding Defining Attributes); however, the key attributes relevant for nutrition assessment and diagnosis include:
    • Interprets: This attribute links the diagnosis to an observable entity being assessed or measured. For example, a diagnosis of 'difficulty swallowing' interprets the observation related to a patient's 'ability to swallow', see the example below. This attribute specifies what aspect of nutrition or health is being interpreted within the context of the diagnosis.
    • Has Interpretation: This attribute represents the outcome or evaluation of the observation, specifying how the observation is interpreted in relation to the diagnosis. For example, it may link to a Qualifier Value such as Deficient, Excessive, or Normal intake, providing a clear description of the interpretation relevant to the nutrition diagnosis.
    • These attributes, Interprets and Has Interpretation, ensure that each diagnosis is directly linked to the observed data and its interpretation, allowing for precise and standardized representation of nutrition-related diagnoses within SNOMED CT.

• Templates
  • As part of the content development process, authoring templates were created to support future content additions and quality assurance of existing and new content in this area.  Nutrition intake (finding) - v1.0

These templates ensure that nutrition diagnosis concepts are modeled in a clear, consistent, and clinically relevant manner, supporting effective documentation and interoperability in healthcare settings.

Examples

Nutrition Intake findings 

Problems related to intake of energy, nutrients, fluids, bioactive constituents through oral diet or nutrition support.

870404000 |Excessive intake of carbohydrate (finding)|

897491008 |Inadequate intake of protein and/or protein derivative (finding)|

Clinical Nutrition Diagnoses 

Nutritional findings/problems identified that relate to medical or physical conditions

288939007 |Difficulty swallowing (finding)|

448765001 |Unintentional weight loss (finding)|

Behavioral-Environmental Nutrition Diagnoses 

Nutritional findings/problems that relate to knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, physical environment, access to food or food safety

1149231004 |Absence of readiness for nutrition behavior change (situation)|

1163267006 |Able to access potable water with difficulty (finding)|