Stilp AM, Emery LS, Broome JG, Buth EJ, Khan AT, Laurie CA, Wang FF, Wong Q, Chen D, D’Augustine CM, Heard-Costa NL, Hohensee CR, Johnson WC, Juarez LD, Liu J, Mutalik KM, Raffield LM, Wiggins KL, de Vries PS, Kelly TN, Kooperberg C, Natarajan P, Peloso GM, Peyser PA, Reiner AP, Arnett DK, Aslibekyan S, Barnes KC, Bielak LF, Bis JC, Cade BE, Chen MH, Correa A, Cupples LA, de Andrade M, Ellinor PT, Fornage M, Franceschini N, Gan W, Ganesh SK, Graffelman J, Grove ML, Guo X, Hawley NL, Hsu WL, Jackson RD, Jaquish CE, Johnson AD, Kardia SLR, Kelly S, Lee J, Mathias RA, McGarvey ST, Mitchell BD, Montasser ME, Morrison AC, North KE, Nouraie SM, Oelsner EC, Pankratz N, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Smith JA, Taylor KD, Vasan RS, Weeks DE, Weiss ST, Wilson CG, Yanek LR, Psaty BM, Heckbert SR, Laurie CC. A System for Phenotype Harmonization in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program.
Am J Epidemiol 2021;
190:1977-1992. [PMID:
33861317 PMCID:
PMC8485147 DOI:
10.1093/aje/kwab115]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Genotype-phenotype association studies often combine phenotype data from multiple studies to increase statistical power. Harmonization of the data usually requires substantial effort due to heterogeneity in phenotype definitions, study design, data collection procedures, and data-set organization. Here we describe a centralized system for phenotype harmonization that includes input from phenotype domain and study experts, quality control, documentation, reproducible results, and data-sharing mechanisms. This system was developed for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program, which is generating genomic and other -omics data for more than 80 studies with extensive phenotype data. To date, 63 phenotypes have been harmonized across thousands of participants (recruited in 1948-2012) from up to 17 studies per phenotype. Here we discuss challenges in this undertaking and how they were addressed. The harmonized phenotype data and associated documentation have been submitted to National Institutes of Health data repositories for controlled access by the scientific community. We also provide materials to facilitate future harmonization efforts by the community, which include 1) the software code used to generate the 63 harmonized phenotypes, enabling others to reproduce, modify, or extend these harmonizations to additional studies, and 2) the results of labeling thousands of phenotype variables with controlled vocabulary terms.
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