Abstract
BackgroundClinical research can be facilitated by the use of informatics tools. We used an existing electronic medical record (EMR) system and personal data assistants (PDAs) to assess the characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) visiting a Kenyan rural health center.MethodsWe modified the existing EMR to include details on patients with ARIs. The EMR database was then used to identify patients with ARIs who were prospectively followed up by a research assistant who rode a bicycle to patients' homes and entered data into a PDA.ResultsA total of 2986 clinic visits for 2009 adult patients with respiratory infections were registered in the database between August 2002 and January 2005; 433 patients were selected for outcome assessments. These patients were followed up in the villages and assessed at 7 and 30 days later. Complete follow-up data were obtained on 381 patients (88%) and merged with data from the enrollment visit's electronic medical records and subsequent health center visits to assess duration of illness and complications. Symptoms improved at 7 and 30 days, but a substantial minority of patients had persistent symptoms. Eleven percent of patients sought additional care for their respiratory infection.ConclusionEMRs and PDA are useful tools for performing prospective clinical research in resource constrained developing countries.
Highlights
Clinical research can be facilitated by the use of informatics tools
Using electronic medical records (EMRs) and personal digital assistants (PDAs) to identify patients for prospective investigations and collect outcomes data can increase the efficiency of such investigations
We describe how we used an existing EMR in a rural Kenyan primary care center was used along with personal data assistants (PDAs) to assess the care and outcomes of one of the most prevalent conditions at the center: acute respiratory tract infections
Summary
Clinical research can be facilitated by the use of informatics tools. We used an existing electronic medical record (EMR) system and personal data assistants (PDAs) to assess the characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) visiting a Kenyan rural health center. The feasibility of using PDAs for longitudinal data collection in poor rural settings has not been fully explored Their portability and long-lasting batteries support structured data collection in a variety of geographic locations and may prove more useful for data collection in the field than laptop or tablet computers, especially in remote areas and in developing countries where electricity may not be available. Their small screens, propensity to lose data when their batteries die, and lack of a wide range of programming tools can be disadvantages for using PDAs for field research
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
