Visualization Techniques for Summarizing Single Patient Health Data to Support Physicians' Clinical Decisions - A Scoping Review

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2024 Aug 30:317:314-323. doi: 10.3233/SHTI240873.

Abstract

Introduction: User-centered data visualizations can reduce physician cognitive load and support clinical decision making. To facilitate the selection of appropriate visualizations for single patient health data summaries, this scoping review provides a literature overview of possible visualization techniques and the corresponding reported user-centered design phases.

Methods: The publication databases PubMed, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore and ACM Digital Library were searched for relevant articles from 2017 to 2022.

Results: Of the 777 articles screened, 78 articles were included in the final analysis. The most commonly used visualization techniques are table, scatterplot-line timeline, text and event timelines, with 24 other visualization techniques identified. The testing phase of the user centered design process is reported most frequently.

Conclusion: This scoping review can support developers in the selection of suitable visualizations for single patient health data by revealing the design space of possible visualization techniques.

Keywords: clinical decision support; data visualization; usability.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Clinical Decision-Making
  • Data Visualization
  • Decision Support Systems, Clinical*
  • Electronic Health Records
  • Humans
  • User-Centered Design
  • User-Computer Interface