Alternative choices available at each stage of deciding how to manage a clinical problem, displayed graphically; at each branch or decision node, the probabilities of each outcome that can be predicted are shown; the relative worth of each outcome is described in terms of its utility or quality of life, e.g., as measured by probability of death, life expectancy, or freedom from disability.
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a graph resembling a tree in having an increasingly more complex branching structure flowing off an initial stem or point; used in decision analysis (q.v.) to represent choices and outcomes as the results of series of sequential decisions.Medical dictionary. 2011.