# Antw: Re: Age, gender and more

**Category:** [Technical (archive)](https://discourse.openehr.org/c/technical-archive/156)
**Created:** 2005-01-27 17:25 UTC
**Views:** 7
**Replies:** 4
**URL:** https://discourse.openehr.org/t/antw-re-age-gender-and-more/14471

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## Post #1 by @williamtfgoossen

In een bericht met de datum 27-1-2005 13:39:00 West-Europa (standaardtijd), schrijft sam.heard@bigpond.com:

> So I was wondering if we should model a class specifically for date of
> birth.....which handles date of birth and age as a function, and which
> takes arguments like date of conception, date of mothers LMP, Expected
> Date of Delivery and stores the normal gestational birthdate as well.
> The class then has a feature called post-conception age as well.
>
> The advantage is that we could even deal with things like 'post-natal'
> as a function (actual birth to day 28) and other phases in future if
> appropriate. It would mean that in family history you could enter 'young
> adulthood' as an age which might be better than guessing 22.

I know that a lot of this material has already been classified and coded in the international classification for nursing practice of ICN (Geneva). This kind of referring to age and time is quite usual in nursing practice, (after birth, post operative, young), infant)

I am now at an airport lounge and have no access to all, but do not start double work on this please.....

William

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## Post #2 by @thomas.beale

Williamtfgoossen@cs\.com wrote:

> In een bericht met de datum 27\-1\-2005 13:39:00 West\-Europa \(standaardtijd\), schrijft sam\.heard@bigpond\.com:
>
> I know that a lot of this material has already been classified and coded in the international classification for nursing practice of ICN \(Geneva\)\. This kind of referring to age and time is quite usual in nursing practice, \(after birth, post operative, young\), infant\)
>
> I am now at an airport lounge and have no access to all, but do not start double work on this please\.\.\.\.\.

William,
what vocabularies and reference ranges should we be using? It appears that we need not just sets of terms like "after birth", "post operative" etc, but age ranges for them; and then there will probably be a similar set for different disciplines\. E\.g\. I imagine that in perinatology "infant" might be defined as one range, while for psychiatry it will be defined another way\. So a single vocabulary won't do it\.

\- thomas beale

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## Post #3 by @USM_Bish

This is an attempt to address the vocab and ranges issue\.

This is  a difficult  issue\. There are  numerous terms  in use,
which  may  be  modulated  by local  factors  and  language  of
communication\. There are no WHO definitions here\. Variations in
terminologies are large\.

The International Paed Assn accepts the following only:

o Neonate   :   > 0 days   <= 28 days \(4 wks\)
o Infant    :   > 4 weeks  <= 1 year
o Child     :   > 1 year   <= Adult   \(18 yr\)

This adult  is a  'legal' definition \(in most countries\) rather
than a biological entity\. There is no biological definition for
the term 'adult'\.

IOW, only the terms 'neonatal' and 'infant' are defined, and is
accepted by ALL  medical disciplines\. The problem  comes in the
huge age  group of 'child' encompassing  17 years \! I  have not
come  across  any  clear definition  by  any  international  or
professional body  to things  like 'adolescence',  'puberty' or
other things brought out on the list \(though they are in common
use everywhere\)\.

In India, an age\-group range for  acceptance of terms are noted
below\.  This   is  after  discussions   with  a  dozen   or  so
paediatricians to direct  questions like 'what do  you infer or
mean  by the  term  toddler?'\.  This can  at  best  serve as  a
starting point to  work from\. It may be prudent  to get further
opinions of practitiones in  other countries before formalising
these terms since these would have to be defined 'by the EHR'\.

o Toddler      > 1 yr   <= 2\.5 yr \(not yet learnt verbal commn\)
o Pre\-school   > 2\.5 yr <= 5 yr   \(happiness \!\)
o year\-old     \.\.\. e\.g\. 6 year old \.\.\. 9 year old child
o Pre\-teen     > 9 yr   <= 13 yr  \(occasionally used\)
o Adolescent   > 12 yr  <= 16 yr  \(infrequently used\)
o Teenager     > 13 yr  <= 19 yr  \(commonly used\)

The term  'puberty' is normally  avoided because  of individual
and sex  dependent variances,  though sometime  used by  an odd
practitioner here and  there \(mainly in Obs &  Gynae\)\. The term
'adolescence' is not in common usage here, this normally refers
to the 12\-16  year age group\. The pre\-teen term  is seldom used
and the 'year\-old' nomenclature is used right through 6\-12 yrs\.
\(viz\. 11 year old boy/ girl/ child\)\.

As stated above,  there would be regional variations  in use of
these terms,  and a  consensus needs to  be reached  for ranges
after studying  all terms  used for  this sub\-18  age group  in
different countries\.

This may serve the purpose of getting on track though \.\.\.

Dr USM Bish
Bangalore

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## Post #4 by @Sam

Hi

Thanks USM, it is clear there are a lot of labels, the point is that I do not want to determine what they are, rather allow them to be used with an appropriate quantity or quantity range stored in the class\.

My proposal is that we have a 'named quantity' class that displays a term, a quantity or a quantity range \(as quantity range already has the interface for quantity\)\.

Cheers, Sam

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## Post #5 by @USM_Bish

Sam, I second this proposal of a 'named qty class' with the qty
range defined\.  Don't know  if there  is any  alternate way  of
approaching this type  of issue sensibly\. The  question here is
the defn of terms and quantity ranges for each of the classes\.

Secondly, could  we have a  dADL/ UML to  know what is  in your
mind ? \(take the example of 'infant', range 29\-364 days\)\. Once,
the idea is clear, we can  use this method for other situations
where named quantities  may be necessary \(e\.g\.  mild anaemia or
borderline hypertension etc\)\.

Dr USM Bish
Bangalore

PS: Thanks List Admin, \[Reply\] now points to the list ;\-\)

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