Re: [Gnumed-devel] Normcurves ... still alive

[Christof Meigen]

Hi,

Hilmar Berger <address@hidden> writes:
> I think it would be nice to have norms not only for metric but for
> categorial data, too (e.g. hematocrit in males / females). That might
> facilitate age/height-independent norms in different ethnic groups or
> patients under different conditions. Is this already possible within the
> current design ?

What do you mean by age/height-independent norms?

Right now, the values that get checked by norms have to be numbers.
But keep in mind, this covers all ordered categrories like
status of puberty or volume of the testicles.

Haematocrit-Values are float numbers between 0 and 1 (or
0% and 100%), what's your point?

I am not aware of a reasoable example that is not covered by this
approach.

A different question is in how far it should be automatised that
norms apply just to certain categories of patients, for example
there are age/height normcurves for Turner-children etc., plus
the whole ethnic question.

I raised this issue a while ago with no reaction. My personal
opinion is that the physician should choose the norm that has to 
be applied himself, since it is impossible to cover all the
special cases, and we don't have norms for each case, 
like, a Prader-Labhard child with a vietnamese mother
and a swedish father.

        Christof