Automatic Conversion of Metadata from the Study of Health in Pomerania to ODM.

BACKGROUND: Electronic collection and high quality analysis of medical data is expected to have a big potential to improve patient care and medical research. However, the integration of data from different stake holders is posing a crucial problem. The exchange and reuse of medical data models as well as annotations with unique semantic identifiers were proposed as a solution. OBJECTIVES: Convert metadata from the Study of Health in Pomerania to the standardized CDISC ODM format. METHODS: The structure of the two data formats is analyzed and a mapping is suggested and implemented. RESULTS: The metadata from the Study of Health in Pomerania was successfully converted to ODM. All relevant information was included in the resulting forms. Three sample forms were evaluated in-depth, which demonstrates the feasibility of this conversion. CONCLUSION: Hundreds of data entry forms with more than 15.000 items can be converted into a standardized format with some limitations, e.g. regarding logical constraints. This enables the integration of the Study of Health in Pomerania metadata into various systems, facilitating the implementation and reuse in different study sites.