MedlinePlus Health Topic Category and Subcategory Changes

MedlinePlus currently has over 950 health topics in both English and Spanish. These health topic pages contain collections of vetted links to consumer health resources. The links are organized into categories, such as Basic, Learn More, Research, and subcategories, such as Start Here, Prevention/Screening, and Related Issues. Health Topics include a table of contents at the top of the page to help users find the most useful information (see Figure 1).

In response to feedback from usability testing and use patterns, MedlinePlus has made changes to the subcategories for these health topic pages. On Tuesday, June 23, 2015 we consolidated and reduced the number of subcategories with the goal of presenting better organized content and a better user experience.

The Health Topic DTD has not changed. View a sample health topic with the new subcategories in XML.

The changes are outlined in the following tables:

Changes to Category and Subcategories in Table of Contents Area: Basics

Previous Table of Contents Area	Previous Subcategory Name	Final Subcategory Name or Location *indicates name change	Final Table of Contents Area *indicates name change
Basics	Summary	Summary	Basics
	Start Here	Start Here
	Latest News	Latest News
	Diagnosis/Symptoms	Diagnosis/Symptoms
	Prevention/Screening	Prevention/Screening
	Treatment	Treatments and Therapies *
Learn More	Alternative Therapy

Changes to Category and Subcategories in Table of Contents Area: Learn More

Previous Table of Contents Area	Previous Subcategory Name	Final Subcategory Name or Location *indicates name change	Final Table of Contents Area *indicates name change
Learn More	Nutrition	Living with *	Learn More
	Coping
	Disease Management
	Rehabilitation/Recovery
	Related Issues	Related Issues
	Specific Conditions	Specific Conditions
Research	Genetics	Genetics *

Changes to Category and Subcategories in Table of Contents Area: Research

Previous Table of Contents Area	Previous Subcategory Name	Final Subcategory Name or Location *indicates name change	Final Table of Contents Area *indicates name change
Reference Shelf	Statistics	Statistics and Research *	Research
Research	Research
	Clinical Trials	Clinical Trials
	Journal Articles	Journal Articles

Changes to Category and Subcategories in Table of Contents Area: Resources

Previous Table of Contents Area	Previous Subcategory Name	Final Subcategory Name or Location *indicates name change	Final Table of Contents Area *indicates name change
Reference Shelf	Dictionaries/Glossaries	Reference Desk *	Resources *
	Newsletters/Print Publications
Research	Anatomy/Physiology
Reference Shelf	Organizations	Find an Expert *
	Directories
Research	Financial Issues	Finance and Policy *
Reference Shelf	Law and Policy

Changes to Subcategories in Table of Contents Area: For You

Previous Table of Contents Area	Previous Subcategory Name	Final Subcategory Name or Location *indicates name change	Final Table of Contents Area *indicates name change
For You	Children	Children	For You
	not currently used	Boys *
	not currently used	Girls *
	Teenagers	Teenagers
	Men	Men
	Women	Women
	Seniors	Seniors
	Adults	Adults
	Patient Handouts	Patient Handouts

Changes to Category and Subcategories in Table of Contents Area: See, Play and Learn

Previous Table of Contents Area	Previous Subcategory Name	Final Subcategory Name or Location *indicates name change	Final Table of Contents Area *indicates name change
Multimedia & Tools	Pictures & Photographs	Images *	See, Play and Learn *
	Health Check Tools	Health Check Tools
	Tutorials	Tutorials
	Videos	Videos
	Games	Games

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