Implementation and quality assessment of a clinical orthopaedic registry in a public hospital department

Providing a framework for evaluation disease registry and health outcomes Software: Updating the CIPROS checklist

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Properly designed and implemented registry systems play an important role in improving health outcomes and reducing care costs, and can provide a true representation of clinical practice, disease outcomes, safety, and efficacy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to redesign and develop a checklist with items for a patient registry software system (CIPROS) Checklist.

METHOD

The study is descriptive-cross-sectional. The extraction of the data elements of the checklist was first done through a comprehensive review of the texts in PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus databases and receiving articles related to the evaluation of registry systems. Based on the extracted data, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was created and 30 experts in this field were asked for their opinions using the two-step Delphi method.

RESULTS

A total of 100 information items were determined as a registry software evaluation checklist. This checklist included 12 groups of software architecture factors, development, interfaces and interactivity, semantics and standardization, internationality, data management, data quality and usability, data analysis, security, privacy, organizational, education and public factors.

CONCLUSION

By using the results of this research, it is possible to identify the defects and possible strengths of the registry software and put it at the disposal of the relevant officials to make a decision in this field. In this way, among the designers and developers of these softwares, the best and most appropriate ones are selected with the needs of the registry programs.

Quality registry improves the data of chronic ulcers: Validation of Tampere Wound Registry

Quality registries are potential tools for improving health care documentation, but the quality and completeness of each registry should be ensured. This study aimed to evaluate the completion rate (completeness) and accuracy of data, first contact-to-registration time (timeliness), and case coverage of the Tampere Wound Registry (TWR) to assess whether it can be reliably used in clinical practice and for research purposes. Data from all 923 patients registered in the TWR between 5 June 2018 and 31 December 2020 were included in the analysis of data completeness, while data accuracy, timeliness and case coverage were analysed in those registered during the year 2020. In all analyses values over 80% were considered good and values over 90% excellent. The study showed that the overall completeness of the TWR was 81% and overall accuracy was 93%. Timeliness achieved 86% within the first 24 h, and case coverage was found to be 91%. When completion of seven selected variables was compared between TWR and patient medical records, the TWR was found to be more complete in five out of seven variables. In conclusion, the TWR proved to be a reliable tool for health care documentation and an even more reliable data source than patient medical records.

Development and evaluation of a customized checklist to assess the quality control of disease registry systems of Tehran, the capital of Iran in 2021

BACKGROUND

Clinical registries facilitate medical research by providing 'real data'. In the past decade, an increasing number of disease registry systems (DRS) have been initiated in Iran. Here, we assessed the quality control (QC) of the data recorded in the DRS established by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, in 2021.

METHODS

The present study was conducted in two consecutive qualitative and quantitative phases and employed a mixed-method design. A checklist containing 23 questions was developed based on a consensus reached following several panel group discussions, whose face content and construct validities were confirmed. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to verify the tool's internal consistency. Overall, the QC of 49 DRS was assessed in six dimensions, including completeness, timeliness, accessibility, validity, comparability, and interpretability. The seventy percent of the mean score was considered a cut-point for desirable domains.

RESULTS

The total content validity index (CVI) was obtained as 0.79, which is a reasonable level. Cronbach's alpha coefficients obtained showed acceptable internal consistency for all of the six QC domains. The data recorded in the registries included different aspects of diagnosis/treatment (81.6%) and treatment quality requirements outcomes (12.2%). According to the acceptable quality cut-point, out of 49 evaluated registries, 48(98%), 46(94%), 41(84%), and 38(77.5%), fulfilled desirable quality scores in terms of interpretability, accessibility, completeness, and comparability, however, 36(73.5%) and 32(65.3%) of registries obtained the quality requirement for timeliness and validity, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The checklist developed here, containing customized questions to assess six QC domains of DRSs, provided a valid and reliable tool that could be considered as a proof-of-concept for future investigations. The clinical data available in the studied DRSs fulfilled desirable levels in terms of interpretability, accessibility, comparability, and completeness; however, timeliness and validity of these registries needed to be improved.

Quality Control for Spine Registries: Development and Application of a New Protocol

Registries are gaining importance both in clinical practice and for research purposes. However, quality control is paramount to ensure that data are consistent and reliable. Quality control protocols have been proposed for arthroplasty registries, but these are not directly applicable to the spine setting. This study aims to develop a new quality control protocol for spine registries. Based on the available protocols for arthroplasty registries, a new protocol for spine registries was developed. The items included in the protocol were completeness (yearly enrollment rate and rate of assessment completion), consistency, and internal validity (coherence between registry data and medical records for blood loss, body mass index, and treated levels). All aspects were then applied to the spine registry of the Institution to verify its quality for each of the 5 years in which the registry has been used (2016-2020). Regarding completeness, the yearly enrollment rate ranged from 78 to 86%; the completion of preoperative assessment from 79% to 100%. The yearly consistency rate varied from 83% to 86%. Considering internal validity, the interclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.1 to 0.8 for blood loss and from 0.3 to 0.9 for body mass index. The coherency for treated levels ranged from 25% to 82%. Overall, all 3 items showed an improvement over time. All 3 analyzed domains showed good to excellent results. The overall quality of the registered data improved over time.

Providing a Population Based Registry Model of Drug Poisoning in Iran

Background

The prevalence of drug poisoning is on the rise in Iran due to the increased public access to drugs. A national drug poisoning registry system is a suitable tool for better management, control, and prevention of drug poisoning.

Objectives

This study aimed to propose a national drug poisoning registry model for Iran.

Methods

This was an applied research conducted in two major phases. In the first phase, all sources pertaining to drug poisoning registries were reviewed, and a national drug poisoning registry model was proposed. In the second phase, this model was validated and finalized using a researcher-made questionnaire and through a two-stage Delphi technique.

Results

The focus of national drug poisoning activities and registry management reached the 100% consensus of experts at the Drug and Poison Information Center of the Food and Drug Organization (Ministry of Health and Medical Education). Goals, data sources, registry system structure, data set, standards, data exchange, registry features, and processes of the proposed model also achieved unanimous expert consensus.

Conclusions

Given the importance of a national drug poisoning registry in gathering, storing, analyzing, and reporting the data of patients, it is essential to provide a framework for evaluating and controlling drug poisoning and for generating valuable data for decision-making. The model proposed herein can offer the information infrastructure for designing and implementing such a system.

Baseline Analysis of Patients Presenting for Surgical Review of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture Reveals Heterogeneity in Patient-Reported Outcome Measures

Despite the establishment of successful surgical techniques and rehabilitation protocols for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, published return to sport rates are less than satisfactory. This has led orthopaedic surgeons and researchers to develop more robust patient selection methods, and investigate prognostic patient characteristics. No previous studies have integrated baseline characteristics and responses to patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of patients with ACL rupture presenting for surgical review. Patients electing to undergo ACL reconstruction under the care of a single orthopaedic surgeon at a metropolitan public hospital were enrolled in a clinical quality registry. Patients completed Veterans RAND 12-item Health Survey (VR-12) Physical Component Summary and Mental Component Summary scores, Tegner activity scale, and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) questionnaires at presentation. Total scores were extracted from the electronic registry, and a machine learning approach (k-means) was used to identify subgroups based on similarity of questionnaire responses. The average scores in each cluster were compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA; Kruskal-Wallis) and nominal logistic regression was performed to determine relationships between cluster membership and patient age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and injury-to-examination delay. A sample of 107 patients with primary ACL rupture were extracted, with 97 (91%) available for analysis with complete datasets. Four clusters were identified with distinct patterns of PROMs responses. These ranged from lowest (Cluster 1) to highest scores for VR-12 and IKDC (Cluster 4). In particular, Cluster 4 returned median scores within 6 points of the patient acceptable symptom state for the IKDC score for ACL reconstruction (70.1, interquartile range: 59-78). Significant (p < 0.05) differences in PROMs between clusters were observed using ANOVA, with variance explained ranging from 40 to 69%. However, cluster membership was not significantly associated with patient age, gender, BMI, or injury-to-examination delay. Patients electing to undergo ACL reconstruction do not conform to a homogenous group but represent a spectrum of knee function, general physical and mental health, and preinjury activity levels, which may not lend itself to uniform treatment and rehabilitation protocols. The factors driving these distinct responses to PROMs remain unknown but are unrelated to common demographic variables.