Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: A good systematic review is dependant on an up-to-date, reliable and comprehensive trials register. In today's information technology age, traditional methods of documenting and maintaining information are being challenged and reviewed. For this reason the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Collaborative Review Group (CRG) has chosen to maintain a study-based register in a relational database, compatible with Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.
Objective: To demonstrate how the adoption of newly emerging GIS technology facilitates the visualization and retrieval of HIV/AIDS trials-related information.
Methods: Identification of the trials involves a comprehensive search using both electronic and manual methods. In addition, trials published in journals that are not indexed in current bibliographic databases as well as conference proceedings are hand-searched. To facilitate searching of the trials register, the studies are coded appropriately using a comprehensive, user-friendly and pragmatic coding sheet. Mapping of the trials requires the capture of geographical coordinates and the design and development of a geodatabase using the mapping software, ArcGIS. The geocoding functionality within ArcGIS supports the geographical location of the trials.
Results: Visual mapping of all trials reported in 2003 will be presented. The overlay of the quantitative graphics provides the ability to realize the spatial distribution of the HIV/AIDS trials across the world in a clear manner. We will demonstrate how presenting trials using mapping software allows the viewer to immediately identify and access information about any particular trial on a map. The mapping of 401 HIV/AIDS trials for the year 2003 revealed bigger clusters in America, Europe and Australia with a few isolated clusters in Africa, Asia and South America. Any trial attribute, such as sample size, intervention type, and database source, can also be visually presented providing it has been recorded in the database.
Conclusions: The HIV/AIDS trials register with its mapping functionality provides a unique and very valuable resource not only for reviewers and researchers, but also for policymakers worldwide. GIS technology can be easily adapted to trial registers and should increasingly be considered as an essential add-on tool for all trials registers.
Objective: To demonstrate how the adoption of newly emerging GIS technology facilitates the visualization and retrieval of HIV/AIDS trials-related information.
Methods: Identification of the trials involves a comprehensive search using both electronic and manual methods. In addition, trials published in journals that are not indexed in current bibliographic databases as well as conference proceedings are hand-searched. To facilitate searching of the trials register, the studies are coded appropriately using a comprehensive, user-friendly and pragmatic coding sheet. Mapping of the trials requires the capture of geographical coordinates and the design and development of a geodatabase using the mapping software, ArcGIS. The geocoding functionality within ArcGIS supports the geographical location of the trials.
Results: Visual mapping of all trials reported in 2003 will be presented. The overlay of the quantitative graphics provides the ability to realize the spatial distribution of the HIV/AIDS trials across the world in a clear manner. We will demonstrate how presenting trials using mapping software allows the viewer to immediately identify and access information about any particular trial on a map. The mapping of 401 HIV/AIDS trials for the year 2003 revealed bigger clusters in America, Europe and Australia with a few isolated clusters in Africa, Asia and South America. Any trial attribute, such as sample size, intervention type, and database source, can also be visually presented providing it has been recorded in the database.
Conclusions: The HIV/AIDS trials register with its mapping functionality provides a unique and very valuable resource not only for reviewers and researchers, but also for policymakers worldwide. GIS technology can be easily adapted to trial registers and should increasingly be considered as an essential add-on tool for all trials registers.
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