We describe the implementation of a computerized data collection and management system – 'Metavision' (IMD-Soft®) – in a 10-bed general ICU (admission rate 750 patients/year) of a 1200-bed tertiary care medical center.
The hospitals and ICUs in this study were selected because each had installed an Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) computerized data collection and analysis system that recorded patient data on ICU days 1 to 7. Details about the characteristics of these hospitals, ICUs, and patients have been described elsewhere [ 20, 25].
Overall, 471 trials were conducted during the study period of which 77 trials were excluded: 33 were methodology trials that entailed no study drugs being administered, six were cancelled before drugs were administered, 30 were initiated on paper records before the computerized data collection was installed, and eight were phase I trials conducted with patients.
Use of (1) adhesive scaffolding and needle guide tubes (ensuring that all needles were equidistant and inserted to the same depth) and (2) computerized data collection (analogue data was only collected as a backup for the digital files) ensured that minimal opportunity was present for bias to influence the experimental results.
All measures will be assessed using computerized data collection methods at baseline and each follow-up, except at the 8-week follow-up where outcomes will be assessed over the phone.
Subjective outcomes data will be collected using computerized data collection tools utilizing Filemaker Pro™ database management to assure complete and accurate data collection.
Study Design: One hundred six fetuses of uncomplicated pregnancies were longitudinally monitored at 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks of gestation by using a fetal actocardiograph and computerized data collection.
The reliability of diagnoses should be tested in other research databases, and systems of automatic computerized data collection [ 9] should be analyzed.
The design of the study will also add to the body of work related to the use of patient reported outcome measures and the use of computerized data collection methods within this population.
Central ratings and application of new assessment technologies, such as computerized data collection, may improve some aspects of data quality.
Trained interviewers used a computerized data collection instrument (involving a five-step recall process: quick list, forgotten foods prompt, time and occasion prompt, details prompt, and final probe), along with aids such as photos of different seafood species.
