Population Health Indicator Ontology
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Population Health Indicator Ontology

Modified on: 2026-04-14
This version:
https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/1.0.4/
Latest version:
https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/
Previous version:
https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/1.0.3/
Revision:
1.0.4
Issued on:
2025-08-20
Authors:
Rob Brennan, ADAPT UCD
Contributors:
Haula Galadima, ADAPT UCD
Huan Chen, UCD
Junli Liang, ADAPT UCD
Publisher:
ADAPT Centre, University College Dublin
Source:
The OAHP project
See also:
https://openreview.net/pdf?id=JMWarUh56o
Download serialization:
JSON-LD RDF/XML N-Triples TTL
License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Visualization:
Visualize with WebVowl
Cite as:
Rob Brennan, Junli Liang and Akila Wickramasekara, Prototyping a Health DCAT-AP data catalogue to support population health indicator identification and quality assessment, NeXt-generation Data Governance workshop 2025 (NXDG 2025), https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-4064/NXDG25-paper3.pdf
Draft

Abstract

The Population Health Indicator Ontology (phi) provides a formal vocabulary for describing population health indicators, indicator groups and the data sources that are used for the indicator numerators and denominators. It is based on HealthDCAT-AP Release 5, the Data Privacy Vocabulary (DPV) and a review of international digital population health indicator metadata. Specific influences were NHS Fingertips,THL Sotkanet Indicator Bank and HSE population health indicator metadata. It is designed to enable the cataloguing and feasibility assessment of indicators and supporting datasets for a population health profile process.

This ontology was developed by the Research Ireland ADAPT Centre at UCD as part of the Ageing Well in Later Life Profile project under Health Service Executive National Clinical Programme for Older People Research Award 2024 (NCPOP RA3/2024). This research was conducted with the financial support of Research Ireland under the ADAPT Centre for AI-driven Digital Content Technology which is funded under the Research Ireland Research Centres Programme (Grant 13/RC/2106_P2) and EMPOWER Data Governance under the Research Ireland Spokes Programme (Grant 20/SP/8955).

Population Health Indicator Ontology: Overview back to ToC

This ontology has the following classes and properties.

Classes

Data Properties

Named Individuals

Population Health Indicator Ontology: Description back to ToC

Ontology for modeling population health indicators based on health DCAT-AP data catalogue

Cross-reference for Population Health Indicator Ontology classes, object properties and data properties back to ToC

This section provides details for each class and property defined by Population Health Indicator Ontology.

Classes

Datasetc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#Dataset

Collection of data published or curated by a single agent and available for access or download in one or more serializations or formats
Source
DCAT3
has super-classes
Class: Dataset c

Indicatorc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#Indicator

A population health indicator that measures specific aspects of health and wellbeing.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
is in domain of
Definition dp, Denominator Data Element dp, Disaggregations dp, High-Low Guidance dp, Indicator ID dp, Indicator Title dp, Measurement Limitations dp, Methodology dp, Notes dp, Numerator Data Element dp, Provenance dp, Rationale dp, Reasons for Inclusion/Exclusion dp, Validity Guidance dp

Indicator Groupc back to ToC or Class ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#IndicatorGroup

A grouping of related health profile indicators.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13

Data Properties

Definitiondp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#definition

Technical description of the indicator—what it measures, how it's defined, and any assumptions or limitations in interpretation.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has super-properties
definition dp
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Denominator Data Elementdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#denominatorDataElement

The description of one variable or value that is used in the denominator (if this indicator has one) e.g. population size. Multiple data elements may be present as a list.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Disaggregationsdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#disaggregation

A list of disaggregation conditions that should be available e.g. male and female
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Has Coding Schemedp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phd#hasCodingScheme

Coding systems in use (ex: ICD-10-CM, DGRs, SNOMED=CT, ...)
Source
DCAT3
has domain
Dataset c
has range
string

High-Low Guidancedp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#highLowGuidance

Guidance on how to understand high or low values—whether they suggest good or poor outcomes.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Indicator IDdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#identifier

The main identifier for the Indicator, e.g. the URI [URL, web link] or other unique identifier in the context of the Catalogue.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has super-properties
identifier dp
has domain
Indicator c
has range
any U R I

Indicator Titledp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#title

Full name of the indicator as used in reports or dashboards.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has super-properties
title dp
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Measurement Limitationsdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#measurementLimitations

Notes on limitations or uncertainty introduced by how the data are collected or calculated.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Methodologydp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#methodology

Summary of methods used to calculate the indicator (e.,g statistical technique, smoothing, standardisation, modelling).
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Notesdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#note

Any additional informal information about the dataset or indicator
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has super-properties
note dp
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Numerator Data Elementdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#numeratorDataElement

The description of one variable or value that is used in the numerator e.g. number of deaths. Multiple data elements may be present as a list.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Provenancedp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#provenance

Provenance is information about entities, activities, and people involved in producing an indicator, which can be used to form assessments about its quality, reliability or trustworthiness. For example a description of the source of this indicator, e.g. academic papers or standards, any calculations or adjustments performed on the raw data and any organisations involved in producing or transforming the data.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has super-properties
provenance dp
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Rationaledp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#rationale

A summary explaining why this indicator matters—its relevance to population health, what it helps to understand, and how it complements other indicators.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Reasons for Inclusion/Exclusiondp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#historyNote

Reasons for Inclusion or Exclusion
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has super-properties
history Note dp
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Statusdp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phd#status

An internal prioritisation process status for the dataset or indicator
Source
PHD
has domain
Dataset c
has range
string

Validity Guidancedp back to ToC or Data Property ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#validityGuidance

Description of how the indicator might be influenced by other variables or biases, affecting validity.
Source
OAHP Data Catalogue Schema Proposal v05.13
has domain
Indicator c
has range
string

Named Individuals

Population Health Indicator Ontologyni back to ToC or Named Individual ToC

IRI: https://w3id.org/hse/ontology/phi#

has facts
title dp "Population Health Indicator Ontology"

Legend back to ToC

c: Classes
dp: Data Properties
ni: Named Individuals

References back to ToC

  1. Mohamed Chouaiech, Pascal Derycke, Bert Van Nuffelen, Nuno Miguel Soares Mesquita, Pavlina Fragkou, Charles-Andrew Vande Catsyne, Truls Korsgaard, Hans Aage Huru, and Makx Dekkers, HealthDCAT-AP Release 5, 22 September 2025. Available at https://healthdataeu.pages.code.europa.eu/healthdcat-ap/releases/release-5/

Acknowledgments back to ToC

The authors would like to thank Silvio Peroni for developing LODE, a Live OWL Documentation Environment, which is used for representing the Cross Referencing Section of this document and Daniel Garijo for developing Widoco, the program used to create the template used in this documentation.