Optimising Clinical Epidemiology in Disease Outbreaks: Analysis of ISARIC-WHO COVID-19 Case Report Form Utilisation

Laura Merson*, Sara Duque, Esteban Garcia-Gallo, Trokon Omarley Yeabah, Jamie Rylance, Janet Diaz, Antoine Flahault, Sabriya Abdalasalam, Alaa Abdalfattah Abdalhadi, Walaa Abdalla, Naana Reyam Abdalla, Almthani Hamza Abdalrheem, Ashraf Abdalsalam, Saedah Abdeewi, Esraa Hassan Abdelgaum, Mohamed Abdelhalim, Mohammed Abdelkabir, Sheryl Ann Abdukahil, Lamees Adil Abdulbaqi, Widyan AbdulhamidSalaheddin Abdulhamid, Nurul Najmee Abdulkadir, Eman Abdulwahed, Rawad Abdunabi, Ryuzo Abe, Laurent Abel, Ahmed Mohammed Abodina, Khaled Abouelmagd, Amal Abrous, Kamal Abu Jabal, Nashat Abu Salah, Salsabeel M.A. Abukhalaf, Abdurraouf Abusalama, Tareg Abdallah Abuzaid, Subhash Acharya, Andrew Acker, Safia Adem, Manuella Ademnou, Francisca Adewhajah, Neill K.J. Adhikari, Diana Adrião, Samuel Yaw Adu, Anthony Afum-Adjei Awuah, Melvin Agbogbatey, Saleh Al Ageel, Musaab Mohammed Ahmed, Aya Mustafa Ahmed, Shakeel Ahmed, Zainab Ahmed Alaraji, Michel Vaillant, ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Group, CCP UK, Mazankowski Heart Institute, PHOSP Collaborative Group, The Western Australian COVID-19 Research Response

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Standardised forms for capturing clinical data promote consistency in data collection and analysis across research sites, enabling faster, higher-quality evidence generation. ISARIC and the World Health Organization have developed case report forms (CRFs) for the clinical characterisation of several infectious disease outbreaks. To improve the design and quality of future forms, we analysed the inclusion and completion rates of the 243 fields on the ISARIC-WHO COVID-19 CRF. Data from 42 diverse collaborations, covering 1886 hospitals and 950,064 patients, were analysed. A mean of 129.6 fields (53%) were included in the adapted CRFs implemented across the sites. Consistent patterns of field inclusion and completion aligned with globally recognised research priorities in outbreaks of novel infectious diseases. Outcome status was the most highly included (95.2%) and completed (89.8%) field, followed by admission demographics (79.1% and 91.6%), comorbidities (77.9% and 79.0%), signs and symptoms (68.9% and 78.4%), and vitals (70.3% and 69.1%). Mean field completion was higher in severe patients (70.2%) than in all patients (61.6%). The results reveal how clinical characterisation CRFs can be streamlined to reduce data collection time, including the modularisation of CRFs, to offer a choice of data volume collection and the separation of critical care interventions. This data-driven approach to designing CRFs enhances the efficiency of data collection to inform patient care and public health response.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)557-580
Number of pages24
JournalEpidemiologia
Volume5
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Aug 2024

Keywords

  • clinical epidemiology
  • common data elements
  • data collection
  • data management
  • infectious disease outbreaks
  • ISARIC

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