index
(pl. indexes, in´dices) (L.) 1. the numerical ratio of measurement of any part in comparison with a fixed standard.
Barthel index an objective, standardized tool for measuring functional status. The individual is scored in a number of areas depending upon independence of performance. Total scores range from 0 (complete dependence) to 100 (complete independence).
bleeding index any of various methods of assessing bleeding in the gingival sulcus before or after treatment.
body mass index (BMI) the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters, a measure of body fat that gives an indication of nutritional status.
cardiac index cardiac output corrected for body size.
cephalic index 100 times the maximum breadth of the skull divided by its maximum length.
citation index an index listing all publications appearing in a set of source publications (e.g., articles in a defined group of journals) that cite a given publication in their bibliographies.
Colour index a publication of the Society of Dyers and Colourists and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists containing an extensive list of dyes and dye intermediates. Each chemically distinct compound is identified by a specific number, the C.I. number, avoiding the confusion of trivial names used for dyes in the dye industry.
glycemic index a ranking of foods based on the response of postprandial
blood sugar levels as compared with a reference food, usually either white bread or
glucose. See table.
left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI) an index of the amount of work performed by the heart.
leukopenic index a fall of 1000 or more in the total leukocyte count within 1.5 hours after ingestion of a given food; it indicates allergic hypersensitivity to that food.
index Medicus a monthly publication of the
national library of medicine in which the world's leading biomedical literature is indexed by author and subject.
opsonic index a measure of opsonic activity determined by the ratio of the number of microorganisms phagocytized by normal leukocytes in the presence of serum from an individual infected by the microorganism, to the number phagocytized in serum from a normal individual.
phagocytic index any arbitrary measure of the ability of neutrophils to ingest native or opsonized particles determined by various assays; it reflects either the average number of particles ingested or the rate at which particles are cleared from the blood or culture medium.
refractive index the refractive power of a medium compared with that of air (assumed to be 1).
short increment sensitivity index (SISI) a hearing test in which randomly spaced, 0.5-second tone bursts are superimposed at 1- to 5-decibel increments in intensity on a carrier tone having the same frequency and an intensity of 20 decibels above the speech recognition threshold.
therapeutic index originally, the ratio of the maximum tolerated dose to the minimum curative dose; now defined as the ratio of the median lethal dose (LD50) to the median effective dose (ED50). It is used in assessing the safety of a drug.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.