Electronic data capture in resource-limited settings using the lightweight clinical data acquisition and recording system

Vielhauer, Jakob; Mahajan, Ujjwal Mukund; Adorjan, Kristina; Benesch, Christopher; Oehrle, Bettina; Beyer, Georg; Sirtl, Simon; Johlke, Anna-Lena; Allgeier, Julian; Pernpruner, Anna; Erber, Johanna; Shamsrizi, Parichehr; Schulz, Christian; Albashiti, Fady; Hinske, Ludwig Christian; Mayerle, Julia; Stubbe, Hans Christian (2024): Electronic data capture in resource-limited settings using the lightweight clinical data acquisition and recording system. Scientific Reports, 14: 19056. ISSN 2045-2322

Abstract

Our prototype system designed for clinical data acquisition and recording of studies is a novel electronic data capture (EDC) software for simple and lightweight data capture in clinical research. Existing software tools are either costly or suffer from very limited features. To overcome these shortcomings, we designed an EDC software together with a mobile client. We aimed at making it easy to set-up, modifiable, scalable and thereby facilitating research. We wrote the software in R using a modular approach and implemented existing data standards along with a meta data driven interface and database structure. The prototype is an adaptable open-source software, which can be installed locally or in the cloud without advanced IT-knowledge. A mobile web interface and progressive web app for mobile use and desktop computers is added. We show the software’s capability, by demonstrating four clinical studies with over 1600 participants and 679 variables per participant. We delineate a simple deployment approach for a server-installation and indicate further use-cases. The software is available under the MIT open-source license. Conclusively the software is versatile, easily deployable, highly modifiable, and extremely scalable for clinical studies. As an open-source R-software it is accessible, open to community-driven development and improvement in the future.

• Doc-Type: Article (LMU Hospital)
• Organisational unit (Faculties): 07 Medicine > Medical Center of the University of Munich > Medical Clinic and Outpatient Clinic II (Gastroenterology, Hepatology)
• DFG subject classification of scientific disciplines: Life sciences
• DFG: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - 491502892