AHP Model for Diagnosis of Tropical Confusable Diseases

Access to medical facilities is a huge source of challenge in developing countries, especially of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Technology has been employed in various spheres of human endeavour, including health care; however, little has been done to harness the power of technology in the diagnosis of tropical (often confusable) diseases. In this study, we mined the experiential knowledge of medical experts to develop an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model for the diagnosis of seven diseases that are prevalent in tropical (mostly developing) countries. Our system also takes cognizance of some risk factors that could pre-dispose an individual to infection. In addition, it recognizes the sematic causative relationships among symptoms, and can account for comorbidity in the seven diseases under consideration. Our system is implemented in an Android environment; it recognizes the need for a friendly and simple user interface for the medical practitioner.