Open Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining from Patient Forums

Anne Dirkson, Suzan Verberne, Gerard Van Oortmerssen, Hans Gelderblom, Wessel Kraaij

Abstract: In the biomedical realm, open knowledge discovery from text has been limited to semi -structured data, such as electronic health records, and biomedical literature [1]. Despite a wealth of research on adverse drug effect (ADE) extraction from patient forum data [2], open knowledge discovery from patient forums has only been conducted incidentally by patient communities themselves [3]-[5]. These patient forums, however, contain a wealth of knowledge: the experiences of the patients themselves. Indeed, patients can offer personal information and experiences that clinicians cannot provide [6], for example on effective daily coping mechanisms.