By Mark Melin. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Creating an SDTM is to provide a comprehensive view of your project from start to finish. It includes identifying all the steps involved in running a clinical trial and documenting your work. But, what exactly is a CRF SDTM? Case Report Forms – Study Data Tabulation Model (CRF SDTM) is a standardized data collection instrument for conducting clinical research studies. It consists of a series of standardized cases that are used to collect information related to specific diseases, drugs, or conditions.
Q1 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
CRFs are valuable tools that allow researchers to gather large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. They can also help researchers determine if certain therapies work better than others, which may lead to more effective treatments being developed for people with specific conditions. A good annotated CRF SDTM is essential in various research domains, especially when it comes to clinical trials.
Tips To Achieve An Excellent Annotated CRF SDTM
Here are four tips and practices to help you achieve an excellent annotated CRF SDTM:
-
Organize Your Annotations
The first step to creating an annotated CRF SDTM is to organize your annotations. You can use a spreadsheet, a word processing program, or a dedicated automation tool.
If you want to use a spreadsheet, start by creating a new document and entering all of your annotations in the spreadsheet’s cells. This way, all of your data will be organized in one place and easy to access. You can also use the spreadsheet to keep track of any missing information or other issues that need to be resolved before submitting your CRF SDTM for review.
If you prefer using a word processing program, you can also create an annotated CRF SDTM in this format. The main difference between annotating using a word processing program and using a spreadsheet is that you can’t see all of your annotations at once when working with text-based documents.
You can also use multiple annotations for each CRF entry where appropriate. You can add multiple annotations to a single item to create a more detailed description of the item than what might fit into a single annotation box or even two. If needed, you can automate your annotations using tools like ryze automation and other similar instruments to reduce manual efforts.
-
Practice Data Validation
Data validation is the process of checking data for accuracy and completeness. It’s essential to ensure that the information you enter into your system matches what the study participant provided on the consent form. It ensures that you have all of the information required to conduct your research.
You also want to ensure that there’ll be no inconsistencies between what’s in your database and what’s on consent forms, which could cause errors in your analysis or reporting of results. In addition, you can use data validation tools to check for missing or invalid responses.
For example, if you’re asking a question about age, everyone who completes the survey must provide an answer to this question. If not, then there could be missing data points in your analysis or reporting of results at a later date when someone uses their age as part of their analysis.
-
Integrate Data
Data integration is essential because it helps achieve the best results from your research. It’s also critical to ensure that your research is credible and trustworthy. The ability to access all relevant information from different sources through one platform makes it possible for researchers to carry out their work more efficiently and accurately.
This saves time and money that would’ve been otherwise spent collecting information from multiple sources separately. It also ensures consistency in reporting and analysis across different studies in a project or program since they’re based on the same set of data points.
Integrate data from as many sources as possible. You can do this in various ways, such as using data from both client and provider databases or by creating a single database that contains all the relevant information needed for your study. Use de-identified data whenever possible to ensure you’re not breaking HIPAA or privacy regulations.
-
Establish Recruitment Timelines
Recruitment timelines are a vital element in developing an annotated CRF SDTM. The recruitment timeline outlines the period for each recruitment stage. You can do the following when establishing timelines:
- Schedule your recruitment timeline in advance.
- Based on your research question and eligibility criteria, define what constitutes a ‘good’ participant.
- Ensure that recruitment materials are easily accessible and easy to understand by potential participants.
- Create a recruiting plan that details how many people will be recruited, how long it’ll take, and what steps need to be taken next.
It’s essential to begin on time and finish on schedule. You should establish recruitment timelines before starting the process and should be flexible enough that they can be adjusted to accommodate unexpected delays.
Takeaway
There’s no doubt that the annotated CRF SDTM is a crucial document. It’s so vital that you need to get it right. It’s not easy to write a good CRF SDTM. It requires time, effort, and commitment. But, if you follow the tips listed above, it’ll be easier for you to achieve an excellent annotated CRF SDTM.
Updated on
Sign up for ValueWalk’s free newsletter here.
