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The
United States Renal Data System (USRDS), through funding received from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH); specifically the National Institute of
Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases is conducting a
comprehensive dialysis study (CDS) of new dialysis patients. The extensive
study both includes quality of life and activity questions. Selected study
participants also receive a complete nutrition survey.
DataBanque
was selected perform two phases of telephone-administered interviews to
dialysis patients across the US as part of this study. The
first phase of interviews will take approximately 10 months to complete.
Phase two of the study involves a follow-up telephone interview at 12
months to all patients who completed a baseline interview. Approximately 30%
of the patients will be asked to complete a nutrition survey in addition to
the quality of life questionnaire. The nutrition survey also involves both
baseline and follow-up interviewing.
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In
2002, DataBanque was contracted by the University of Pittsburgh School of
Public Health to provide research support and data management services to
the University's cancer exposure study of the Pratt & Whitney
Corporation in New Haven,
Connecticut. Pratt &
Whitney, a jet-engine design and manufacturing company, has recently
experienced a number of employees who contracted a rare form of brain
cancer called glioblastoma, as well as some other
brain cancers. Consequently, Pratt & Whitney retained the University of Pittsburgh to provide a
comprehensive historical cohort cancer cluster exposure study of Pratt
& Whitney employees and factories to determine if a cancer-causing
component is or was present in one or more facilities.
The
industrial cohort study consists of the management of historical
documentation, namely Pratt & Whitney employment records. DataBanque
will use these employee records to create a detailed and chronological
working history of each employee. The boundaries of the study require that
any employee who has worked for Pratt and Whitney at any time during or
after 1952 will be included in the investigation. The employment
documentation consists of paper and microfilm records totaling 140,000
employee records.
Abstraction,
Data Entry, and Verification Processes
Due to the immense size of this project, DataBanque implemented a series of
processes to ensure the efficient and accurate handling of Pratt &
Whitney documents. Using a thorough recruitment and training effort,
DataBanque has been able to employ professional, qualified, and dedicated
employees for file preparation, abstraction, quality assurance, and data
entry. Abstractors are trained extensively to familiarize themselves with
the various Pratt & Whitney records and to learn the guidelines of
abstraction as required by the investigators. Due to the amount of data
gathered from abstraction, DataBanque implemented a quality assurance
verification system to ensure data accuracy and to provide customized
quality assurance statistics. All data entry is performed utilizing a 100
percent double blind key verification system to confirm accuracy in typing.
The data entry software is customized to verify data and flag discrepancies
immediately in each field.
Customized
Software
With the expertise of DataBanque's Chief
Technology Officer and his team, we were able to build custom software
specifically tailored for the requirements of the University of Pittsburgh/
Pratt & Whitney Project. DataBanque built file management software, a
quality assurance program, and data entry programs, all utilizing SQL
software. All programs are designed with a date, time, DataBanque employee,
and status stamping mechanism for tracking purposes and each field is
updated automatically at all points within the process.
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