323 Applying MeSH Tree Structures and Condition-to-MeSH Mapping to Catalog and Characterize Clinical Trials Research Focus Areas

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Characterizing and analyzing research studies presents several challenges given the various ways studies may be labeled or organized. The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus is a hierarchical vocabulary that can index and organize research foci using common business intelligence tools to enable rapid exploration of research portfolios. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Metadata from ClinicalTrials.gov on 455,437 trials were downloaded and all MeSH terms associated with trials in the condition_browse section were loaded into a database. The corresponding MeSH trees for each term were then identified and mapped to their ancestor terms within the tree. Trials were then indexed based on top four hierarchical levels for each associated MeSH term. Trials performed at the University of Miami (UM) were identified based on locations associated with the trial as well as matching National Clinical Trial (NCT) numbers identified from internal research administration systems. Business intelligence software (Microsoft PowerBI) was applied to the corresponding dataset to enable end user exploration and analysis of the trials within ClinicalTrials.gov. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: A total of 3,271 studies associated with UM were identified, of which, 3,054 (93.3%) had at least one condition MeSH term linked. A total of 7,711 MeSH terms were associated with the trials overall, representing 1,112 unique MeSH terms; the most common terms were carcinoma (164), lymphoma (155), HIV Infections (139), neoplasms (136), and leukemia (122). Utilizing MeSH hierarchy, trials were characterized were categorized into 36 different trees. The most common top tree nodes were neoplasms (1,181), followed by pathological conditions/signs and symptoms (913), immune system diseases (574), nervous system diseases (513), and digestive system diseases (483). Within trees, a total of 184, 681, and 1057 different MeSH terms were specified at the second, third, and fourth nodes in the hierarchy respectively. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Utilizing existing metadata from trials posted on ClinicalTrials.gov and MeSH tree structures can enable organizations to readily explore the foci of clinical trials research. High rates of MeSH term association to research study conditions are necessary to ensure adequate representation of research foci.