Error rates in a clinical data repository: Lessons from the transition to electronic data transfer-a descriptive study

Abstract

Clinical datasets as is their potential to confound downstream analysis. In this study, we explore the reliability of manually transcribed data across different pathology fields in a prostate cancer database and also measure error rates attributable to the source data. Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Specialist urology service at a single centre in metropolitan Victoria in Australia. Participants: Between 2004 and 2011, 1471 patients underwent radical prostatectomy at our institution. In a large proportion of these cases, clinicopathological variables were recorded by manual data-entry. In 2011, we obtained electronic versions of the same printed pathology reports for our cohort. The dat..