Balanced centralized and distributed database design in a clinical research environment.
Clinical research databases can meet both research and clinical needs, but this ideal is seldom achieved. Priorities often differ for those who collect and ultimately use the data and those who develop data systems. Traditional database designs also create logistical barriers that hamper communication. The Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center has developed a secure, distributed data system with centralized data entry that provides an intuitive, individually customized interface for investigators in their clinics, laboratories and offices. Data are kept in a form that can be readily understood without reference to a code-book. Investigators can modify and query their own copies of the database without knowledge of programming languages. Balancing centralized and distributed designs for research databases enhance the accuracy and completeness of data collection and increases the use of data for research and clinical care.