Attribute
“An attribute that a radiologist would use to characterize a particular finding in a radiology report.”1 Every finding model carries at least one. There are exactly two kinds.
| Kind | Discriminator | Distinctive fields |
|---|---|---|
| Choice attribute | type: "choice" | values (at least two attribute values), max_selected (default 1) |
| Numeric attribute | type: "numeric" | minimum, maximum, unit |
Both kinds carry oifma_id, name, an optional description, a required flag meaning the attribute is used every time the finding is described, and optional index codes.2 A choice attribute is described as one “where the radiologist would choose from a list of options,” a numeric attribute as one “where the radiologist would choose a number from a range.”1
Synonyms and near-synonyms
- Data element is the next-generation vocabulary’s replacement term. The difference is ownership: an OIFM attribute belongs to one finding model, while a DataElement is shared and reached through an element binding.
- CDE element is the RadElement counterpart, identified
RDE####. - Measurement is the next-generation counterpart of a numeric attribute, and is deliberately not a DataElement there.
- Facet and structured metadata field are not attributes. They describe the finding model itself, not an instance of the finding.
Identifier form
OIFMA_[A-Z]{3,4}_[0-9]{6}, unique across the whole corpus, not just within one model.2
Where it is used
Finding model format and Identifiers.
Conflicts
The committee record shows an unresolved naming debate between “element,” “attribute,” and “data element” for this concept, and the next-generation working glossary settles on DataElement while OIFM keeps “attribute.”34 The two words denote nearly the same thing with different scoping rules, so a document must say which vocabulary it is using.