A Conceptual Model for an Ontology-Based Dietary Recommendation Plan in Crohn’s Disease

Crohn's Disease (CD) is a long-term inflammatory bowel disorder that affects the digestive system. It is influenced by geography, diet, genetics, and immune response. Patients often experience difficulties managing CD due to the complexity and heterogeneity of the condition. Despite increasing scientific efforts, knowledge within the domain remains scattered and fragmented across different concepts. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model of CD using knowledge engineering to organize domain knowledge and clarify the main aspects and their relationships. The conceptual model is created following the Ontology Development 101 methodology to define the creation of classes, properties, and restrictions. The proposed model is designed to organize and integrate multiple aspects of the condition, such as symptoms, treatments, risk factors, and patient profiles, with a particular emphasis on dietary recommendations. The resulting model consists of eight primary classes and fifteen key relationships, clarifying the connections between patients, symptoms, treatments, and diagnosis. The CD conceptual model does not comprehensively address the genetic, environmental, cultural practices, or neurobiological factors related to CD. To address these limitations, future work should focus on integrating real-world clinical data and considering broader demographic contexts. This study examines nutritional treatments for CD, such as Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN), the low-FODMAP diet, and the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED) that emphasize the role of diet in personalized healthcare. The CD conceptual model developed is the basis for building a comprehensive ontology-driven system that will help Crohn's patients with personalized dietary advice and future decision support systems that will improve their clinical care.

@article{Almehmadi2025,
  title     = {A Conceptual Model for an Ontology-Based Dietary Recommendation Plan in Crohn’s Disease},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {16},
  number    = {11},
  year      = {2025},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Rezan Almehmadi and Aisha Alsobhi and Omaima Almatrafi},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2025.0161152},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2025.0161152}
}