Updates for the 2022 edition
Changes to the DeCS/MeSH data made during the annual update to 2022 from the year-end processing of MeSH are outlined below.
Changes to DeCS/MeSH Descriptors
For the 2022 edition, 24 MeSH descriptors in English language were either modified or replaced by a more up-to-date one according to the current terminology:
| Replaced descriptor | Replaced-by descriptor |
| African Continental Ancestry Group | Blacks |
| American Natives | American Indians or Alaska Natives |
| Anabaena flos-aquae | Dolichospermum flos-aquae |
| Angiopoietin-like 4 Protein | Angiopoietin-Like Protein 4 |
| Asian Continental Ancestry Group | Asians |
| Casein Kinase Iepsilon | Casein Kinase 1 epsilon |
| Cingulata | Xenarthra |
| Continental Population Groups | Racial Groups |
| Dental Models | Models, Dental |
| Echidna | Tachyglossidae |
| Environmental DNA | DNA, Environmental |
| Ethnic Groups | Ethnicity |
| European Continental Ancestry Group | Whites |
| Fermented Foods and Beverages | Fermented Foods |
| Genus Pimenta | Pimenta |
| Hispanic Americans | Hispanic or Latino |
| Housekeeping | Household Work |
| Immunosuppression | Immunosuppression Therapy |
| Insectivora | Eulipotyphla |
| Kinesin | Kinesins |
| Oceanic Ancestry Group | Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander |
| Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases | Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases |
| Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch | IgA Vasculitis |
| Translational Medical Research | Translational Research, Biomedical |
New DeCS/MeSH Descriptors and Concepts
277 new descriptors were added by MeSH for the 2022 edition.
New descriptors per Category
| Category | Number of new descriptors |
| [D] Chemicals and Drugs | 85 |
| [N] Health Care | 29 |
| [A] Anatomy | 26 |
| [C] Diseases | 20 |
| [G] Phenomena and Processes | 19 |
| [F] Psychiatry and Psychology | 18 |
| [E] Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques, and Equipment | 17 |
| [I] Anthropology, Education, Sociology, and Social Phenomena | 17 |
| [B] Organisms | 14 |
| [L] Information Science | 12 |
| [M] Named Groups | 9 |
| [J] Technology, Industry, and Agriculture | 6 |
| [H] Disciplines and Occupations | 3 |
| [K] Humanities | 1 |
| [Z] Geographicals | 1 |
Descriptors related to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19
- Economic Stability
- Housing Instability
- Environmental Justice
- Community Support
- Social Vulnerability
- Access to Healthy Foods
- Social Structure
- Child Poverty
- Social Deprivation
- Home Environment
- Neighborhood Characteristics
- Perceived Discrimination
- Sociodemographic Factors
- Census Tract
- Health Inequities
- Intersectional Framework
- Ostracism
- Systemic Racism
- Social Status
- Ethnic and Racial Minorities
- Social Cohesion
- Social Integration
New Infection Descriptors:
New and Updated Organism Descriptors
Viruses:
Entry Combination Revisions
The NLM has been retrospectively replacing certain MeSH heading/subheading combinations, known as Entry Combinations, with the new pre-coordinated MeSH descriptors. If you get no retrieval for a MeSH heading/subheading combination, check the descriptor in the 2022 DeCS/MeSH Browser to see if the Entry Combination information indicates a different term.
There are four new pre-coordinated descriptors included in the 2022 edition.
| Entry Combination | Replaced-by heading |
| Iron/deficiency | Iron Deficiencies |
| Proprotein Convertase 9/antagonists & inhibitors | PCSK9 Inhibitors |
| 1-Propanol/analogs & derivatives | Propanols |
| Shoulder Joint/injuries | Shoulder Injuries |
Watch here a webinar that summarizes the changes for the 2022 MeSH.
You can download DeCS/MeSH 2022 from the License form on the For Developers page.
Source:
MEDLINE Data Changes – NLM Tech Bull. 2021 Nov-Dec;(443):e8. Consult here.
Adapted by: Sector of Terminologies and Classifications in Health – TCS – BIREME/PAHO/WHODate updated: May, 2022
