Validation of a Natural Language Processing Algorithm for Detecting Infectious Disease Symptoms in Primary Care Electronic Medical Records in Singapore.

Background: Free-text clinical records provide a source of information that complements traditional disease surveillance. To electronically harness these records, they need to be transformed into codified fields by natural language processing algorithms.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop, train, and validate Clinical History Extractor for Syndromic Surveillance (CHESS), an natural language processing algorithm to extract clinical information from free-text primary care records.

Results from a Patient-Based Health Education Intervention in Reducing Antibiotic Use for Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in the Private Sector Primary Care Setting in Singapore.

We investigated the efficacy of patient-targeted education in reducing antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) among adults in the private primary care setting in Singapore. Our randomized controlled trial enrolled patients aged 21 years and above presenting at general practitioner (GP) clinics with URTI symptoms for 7 days or less. Intervention arm patients were verbally educated via pamphlets about the etiology of URTIs, the role of antibiotics in treating URTIs, and the consequences of inappropriate antibiotic use.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract infections among patients seeking primary health care in Singapore.

Background: Patients' expectations can influence antibiotic prescription by primary healthcare physicians. We assessed knowledge, attitude and practices towards antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), and whether knowledge is associated with increased expectations for antibiotics among patients visiting primary healthcare services in Singapore.

Methods: Data was collected through a cross-sectional interviewer-assisted survey of patients aged ≥21 years waiting to see primary healthcare practitioners for one or more symptoms suggestive of URTI (cough, sore throat, runny nose or blocked nose) for 7 days or less, covering the demographics, presenting symptoms, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of URTI and associated antibiotic use.