Class: Observation

A structured object that describes a single data item about an entity, as generated through a point-in-time observation, measurement, or interpretation.

URI: crdch:Observation

Parents

• is_a: Entity - Any resource that has its own identifier

Referenced by Class

• Diagnosis ➞supporting_observation _0..* Observation
• ObservationSet ➞observations _0..* Observation

Attributes

Own

• id _0..1
  • Description: The 'logical' identifier of the entity within the system of record. The simple value of this attribute stands for an identifier of this data object within the system, it can be used as a reference from other objects within the same system (i.e. primary and foreign keys), and it should be unique per type of object. The same data object copied to a different system will likely have a different "id" in the new system since "id" values are system specific and do not represent persistent business identifiers. Business identifiers are assigned outside the information system and are captured in the "identifier" field. The "id" field is more likely to be a serially or randomly generated value that is assigned to the data object as it is created in a system.
  • Range: CrdchString
• category _0..1
  • Description: The general category of observation described
  • Range: CodeableConcept
  • Examples: DimensionalMeasure, TissueCompositionMeasure, SpecimenQualityMeasure, CellularCompositionMeasure, TobbaccoExposureMeasure
• observation_type _1..1
  • Description: The specific type of observation made - i.e. the feature or characteristic that was observed, measured, estimated, etc..
  • Range: CodeableConcept
  • Examples: tumor_tissue_area, percentage_stroma, a260_a280_ratio, width_of_tumor, time_between_excision_and_freezing
• method_type _0..*
  • Description: A type of method used in generating the Observation result.
  • Range: CodeableConcept
• focus _0..*
  • Description: The entity or entities directly observed/measured in generating an observation result.
  • Range: Entity
• subject _0..1
  • Description: The patient that the observation is about (if not the direct focus). e.g. observations are often made on specimens derived from a patient, or other entities related to a patient, that ultimately tell us something about the patient of interest.
  • Range: Subject
• performed_by _0..1
  • Description: The organization or group that performed the observation activity.
  • Range: Organization
• value_entity _0..1
  • Description: The value of an observation
  • Range: Entity
• value_string _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a free-text string.
  • Range: CrdchString
• value_integer _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a decimal.
  • Range: CrdchDecimal
• value_decimal _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a decimal.
  • Range: CrdchDecimal
• value_boolean _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a boolean.
  • Range: CrdchBoolean
• value_date_time _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a dateTime.
  • Range: CrdchDateTime
• value_quantity _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a free-text Quantity.
  • Range: Quantity
• value_codeable_concept _0..1
  • Description: The result of the observation, encoded as a CodeableConcept.
  • Range: CodeableConcept

Other properties

Comments:		At the core of an Observation is a flexible key-value pair (or a structured collection of key-value pairs), where a 'key' field defines the type of observation made, and the 'value' field describes the value or outcome of the observation. The fact that the type of observation captured is defined in the data allow Observation to convey a broad range of observation data.