|  | Overview 
                of DeCS's tree structure 
                 DeCS follows the tradition of 
                the classification systems and their respective subject heading 
                lists which have been transformed into specialized vocabularies 
                without, however, changing the structures of the classification 
                systems from which they originated. Its tree structure is well-grounded in the division 
                of knowledge in decimal classes and subclasses respecting their 
                conceptual and semantic relationships, and its terms are presented 
                in a hybrid structure of pre- and post-coordination. See also 
                the qualifier hierarchical 
                tree. DeCS vocabulary concepts are distributed as 
                follows (2015 version):  
                29.2% 
                  refer to chemical compounds and drugs (D category), both exogenous 
                  and endogenous; 
 
23.0% 
                  of the total are anatomical terms (A category), organisms (B 
                  category) and phenomena and processes (G category);
 
14.5% 
                  of the total refer to diseases (C category); 
 
Categories 
                  such as techniques and equipment (E category), allied sciences 
                  (F, H, I, J, K, L, M and N categories), publication characteristics 
                  (V category) and geographic locations (Z category) altogether 
                  represent 21.9%; 
 
Public 
                  Health (SP category) is represented by 10.9%, Homeopathy (HP 
                  category) by 6.1%, Health Surveillance (VS category) by 2.6%, 
                  and Science and Health (SH category) by 0.7%. These last four 
                  categories were especially developed to better represent the 
                  literature generated in the countries of the region.  Updated: April, 2015 |