Exploration of Musculoskeletal Diseases

Characteristic	Structured databases	Unstructured information
Definition	Uses diagnostic codes and predefined formats	Found in free text or images
Data source	Claims; prescriptions and administrative databases	Clinical notes; imaging data
Data collection	International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition (ICD-9), ICD-10 codes	Natural language processing (NLP) for text; convolutional neural network (CNN) for imaging
Examples of RA research	Detailed study of comorbidities; treatment safety	Identification of RA patients; extraction of outcome measures
Limitations	Limited by predefined formats; requires systematic coding; possible missing variables and biases	Analytical challenges; require precision in data detection; design challenges in algorithms
Benefits	Systematic and standardized data; detection of long-term trends; prevalence in broad populations	Enhances collection of specific features; contributes to multimodal research

Characteristic

Structured databases

Unstructured information

Definition

Uses diagnostic codes and predefined formats

Found in free text or images

Data source

Claims; prescriptions and administrative databases

Clinical notes; imaging data

Data collection

International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition (ICD-9), ICD-10 codes

Natural language processing (NLP) for text; convolutional neural network (CNN) for imaging

Examples of RA research

Detailed study of comorbidities; treatment safety

Identification of RA patients; extraction of outcome measures

Limitations

Limited by predefined formats; requires systematic coding; possible missing variables and biases

Analytical challenges; require precision in data detection; design challenges in algorithms

Benefits

Systematic and standardized data; detection of long-term trends; prevalence in broad populations

Enhances collection of specific features; contributes to multimodal research