What’s new in 2009 DeCS

This article highlights the additions and changes in the DeCS vocabulary in 2009.

Overview of Vocabulary Development and Changes

· 446 MeSH descriptors were added; the ten subcategories receiving the greatest additions were the amino acids, peptides and proteins (86), fungi (47), biological factors (40), physical phenomena (25), cells (19), chemical phenomena (16), respiratory tract diseases (15), congenital, hereditary, and neonatal diseases (15), environmental and public health (14), musculoskeletal diseases (13), diagnosis (13), investigative techniques (13) and nervous system diseases (12);

· 123 MeSH descriptors and 9 DeCS descriptors were replaced with more up-to-date terminology in English

· 191 DeCS descriptors had their Spanish version updated

· 89 DeCS descriptors had their Portuguese version updated

· 27 MeSH descriptors and 14 DeCS descriptors were eliminated

· 102 MeSH synonyms and 982 DeCS synonyms were added

Totals by Type of Terminology

Annual Growth	2008	2009	difference	variation
Total MeSH descriptors (MH+PT)	24767	25.186	419	1,7%
Total MeSH subheadings (MQ)	83	83	0	0,0%
Total DeCS descriptors (DH+DQ)	4724	4711	-13	-0,3%
Total DeCS synonyms per language average	30653	31378	725	2,4%
Total Concepts	29573	29980	407

MH= MeSH Headings; PT=Publication Types; MQ=MeSH Subheadings; DH=DeCS Headings; DQ=DeCS Subheadings

New Descriptors by Tree Category

Tree Category	Number of descriptors
A – Anatomy	48
B – Organisms	56
C – Diseases	99
D – Chemicals and Drugs	146
E – Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment	54
F – Psychiatry and Psychology	13
G – Phenomena and Processes	111
H – Disciplines and Occupations	14
HP – Homeopathy	0
I – Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena	7
J – Technology, Industry, Agriculture	8
K – Humanities	4
L – Information Science	3
M – Named Groups	3
N – Health Care	29
SH – Science and Health	0
SP – Public Health	0
V – Publication Characteristics	3
VS – Health Surveillance	0
Z – Geographicals	4

The total is greater than 446 because some descriptors occur in more than one category.

DeCS 2009 edition is available for online searching through the DeCS Search or directly from the Virtual Health Library homepage.

Helpful Links

Please consult the DeCS 2009 edition or the 2009 online Introduction to MeSH for more details. A complete list of new and changed vocabulary is available at these links:

New MeSH and DeCS Descriptors with Scope Notes - 2009

New MeSH and DeCS Descriptors by category - 2009

Replaced MeSH and DeCS Descriptors - 2009

Deleted MeSH and DeCS Descriptors - 2009

DeCS tree number changes - 2009

MeSH tree number changes - 2009

Major Tree Revisions

Of special note are developments for 2009 MeSH related to fungi, to processes and phenomena, and to disciplines and occupations.

Fungi

A major revision of the Fungi trees was undertaken to bring MeSH in synchrony with a new consensus report that revised the higher level fungi taxa (Mycol Res. 2007 May;111(Pt 5):509-47. Epub 2007 Mar 13. Cited in PubMed; PMID 17572334). As a result, some descriptors for fungi phyla became obsolete. New descriptors were added including a large number of fungi genera.

Changes to G and H Trees

Two of the MeSH Tree categories have been substantially revised and renamed. Category G (Biological Sciences) was renamed Phenomena and Processes. Category H (Natural Sciences) was renamed Disciplines and Occupations. These rearrangements were undertaken to improve the usability of the vocabulary in the G and H Tree categories.

The previous (pre-2009) organization was established in 1975 and non-biological phenomena and techniques were organized within broad disciplines named by a descriptor in the H Tree category of Natural Sciences. The Biological Sciences discipline descriptors were treed in locations in both G and H Tree categories. Phenomena, Related techniques, and similar descriptors were arranged side by side with subdisciplines. Many descriptors involving concepts related to phenomena, being of interest to more than one discipline, were placed in more than one Tree location. This arrangement was difficult to maintain and to use. To address this situation, "Phenomena and Processes" and "Disciplines and Occupations" were separated into different tree categories.

Topics of interest to a specific discipline are now organized in increasing levels of complexity. Progressive division involves separation of the phenomena into structures or objects in the case of those not represented by anatomical structures in the A category, organisms in the B category, or chemical substances in the D category. Further division follows under processes or other observable properties, qualities, and measurable phenomena. This approach provides a reproducible, logical framework for expanding the MeSH vocabulary in the category of Phenomena and Processes.

The H Tree category now provides a place for the different subcategories of disciplines and occupations. The first two of these are the Natural Sciences Disciplines and the Health Occupations.

In this major rearrangement of the G and H hierarchies, descriptors for phenomenon or process concepts in the H01 tree were moved to a G category tree. Descriptors for disciplines or occupations that were located in G were moved to H. In addition, some descriptors for techniques were moved from the former H01 subcategory of Natural Sciences to the appropriate E Tree category or elsewhere. The descriptors in G03, formerly Environment and Public Health, were moved to N06 Environment and Public Health. The descriptors for matters of interest to these disciplines are now treed in the new subtree G16.500 Ecological and Environmental Phenomena.

There are two new H Tree categories for the discipline-related terminology previously included in both G Tree categories and H Tree categories:

H01 - Natural Science Disciplines

H02 - Health Occupations (formerly G02)

New subcategories within the G category are:

G01 - Physical Phenomena

G02 - Chemical Phenomena - includes Biochemical Phenomena (formerly G06.184)

G17 - Mathematical Concepts

New tree subcategories were added for:

G03 - Metabolic Phenomena (formerly Metabolism in G06.535)

G04 - Cell Physiological Phenomena (formerly Cell Physiology in G04.335)

G05 - Genetic Phenomena (formerly G13) - replaces and includes Genetic Processes and includes Genetic Structures (formerly G14)

G06 - Microbiological Phenomena (formerly G04.185.515)

G12 - Immune System Phenomena (formerly Immunity in G04.610)

G13 - Integumentary System Physiological Phenomena (formerly Skin Physiology in G10.795)

G14 - Ocular Physiological Phenomena (formerly Ocular Physiology in G11.697)

G15 - Plant Physiological Phenomena (formerly Plant Physiology in G04.742)

G16 - Biological Phenomena (formerly in G04.185)

These subcategories in the G category were renamed:

G07 - Physiological Phenomena - includes Nutritional Physiological Phenomena (formerly G06.696) and Pharmacological Phenomena (formerly G12)

G08 - Reproductive and Urinary Physiological Phenomena

G09 - Circulatory and Respiratory Physiological Phenomena

G10 - Digestive System and Oral Physiological Phenomena

G11 - Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

From: Schulman J. What's New for 2009 MeSH®. NLM Tech Bull. 2008 Nov-Dec (365):e9. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd08/nd08_mesh.html

Other pertinent articles:

MEDLINE/PubMed Year-End Processing Activities

2009 MeSH® Now Available

MEDLINE Data Changes — 2009

PubMed Notes — 2009

Newly Maintained MEDLINE for 2009 MeSH Now Available in PubMed

Adaptation by: the DeCS Unit at BIREME/PAHO/WHO

Date of last update: March, 2009