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Feasibility of Combining Common Data Elements Across Studies to Test a Hypothesis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Corwin, EJ; Moore, SM; Plotsky, A; Heitkemper, MM; Dorsey, SG; Waldrop-Valverde, D; Bailey, DE; Docherty, SL; Whitney, JD; Musil, CM; Grady, PA ...
Published in: Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing
May 2017

The purpose of this article is to describe the outcomes of a collaborative initiative to share data across five schools of nursing in order to evaluate the feasibility of collecting common data elements (CDEs) and developing a common data repository to test hypotheses of interest to nursing scientists. This initiative extended work already completed by the National Institute of Nursing Research CDE Working Group that successfully identified CDEs related to symptoms and self-management, with the goal of supporting more complex, reproducible, and patient-focused research.Two exemplars describing the group's efforts are presented. The first highlights a pilot study wherein data sets from various studies by the represented schools were collected retrospectively, and merging of the CDEs was attempted. The second exemplar describes the methods and results of an initiative at one school that utilized a prospective design for the collection and merging of CDEs.Methods for identifying a common symptom to be studied across schools and for collecting the data dictionaries for the related data elements are presented for the first exemplar. The processes for defining and comparing the concepts and acceptable values, and for evaluating the potential to combine and compare the data elements are also described. Presented next are the steps undertaken in the second exemplar to prospectively identify CDEs and establish the data dictionaries. Methods for common measurement and analysis strategies are included.Findings from the first exemplar indicated that without plans in place a priori to ensure the ability to combine and compare data from disparate sources, doing so retrospectively may not be possible, and as a result hypothesis testing across studies may be prohibited. Findings from the second exemplar, however, indicated that a plan developed prospectively to combine and compare data sets is feasible and conducive to merged hypothesis testing.Although challenges exist in combining CDEs across studies into a common data repository, a prospective, well-designed protocol for identifying, coding, and comparing CDEs is feasible and supports the development of a common data repository and the testing of important hypotheses to advance nursing science.Incorporating CDEs across studies will increase sample size and improve data validity, reliability, transparency, and reproducibility, all of which will increase the scientific rigor of the study and the likelihood of impacting clinical practice and patient care.

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Published In

Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing

DOI

EISSN

1547-5069

ISSN

1527-6546

Publication Date

May 2017

Volume

49

Issue

3

Start / End Page

249 / 258

Related Subject Headings

  • Schools, Nursing
  • Research Design
  • Prospective Studies
  • Pilot Projects
  • Nursing Research
  • Nursing
  • Interinstitutional Relations
  • Humans
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Common Data Elements
 

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Corwin, E. J., Moore, S. M., Plotsky, A., Heitkemper, M. M., Dorsey, S. G., Waldrop-Valverde, D., … Grady, P. A. (2017). Feasibility of Combining Common Data Elements Across Studies to Test a Hypothesis. Journal of Nursing Scholarship : An Official Publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, 49(3), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12287
Corwin, Elizabeth J., Shirley M. Moore, Andrea Plotsky, Margaret M. Heitkemper, Susan G. Dorsey, Drenna Waldrop-Valverde, Donald E. Bailey, et al. “Feasibility of Combining Common Data Elements Across Studies to Test a Hypothesis.Journal of Nursing Scholarship : An Official Publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing 49, no. 3 (May 2017): 249–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12287.
Corwin EJ, Moore SM, Plotsky A, Heitkemper MM, Dorsey SG, Waldrop-Valverde D, et al. Feasibility of Combining Common Data Elements Across Studies to Test a Hypothesis. Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. 2017 May;49(3):249–58.
Corwin, Elizabeth J., et al. “Feasibility of Combining Common Data Elements Across Studies to Test a Hypothesis.Journal of Nursing Scholarship : An Official Publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, vol. 49, no. 3, May 2017, pp. 249–58. Epmc, doi:10.1111/jnu.12287.
Corwin EJ, Moore SM, Plotsky A, Heitkemper MM, Dorsey SG, Waldrop-Valverde D, Bailey DE, Docherty SL, Whitney JD, Musil CM, Dougherty CM, McCloskey DJ, Austin JK, Grady PA. Feasibility of Combining Common Data Elements Across Studies to Test a Hypothesis. Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. 2017 May;49(3):249–258.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing

DOI

EISSN

1547-5069

ISSN

1527-6546

Publication Date

May 2017

Volume

49

Issue

3

Start / End Page

249 / 258

Related Subject Headings

  • Schools, Nursing
  • Research Design
  • Prospective Studies
  • Pilot Projects
  • Nursing Research
  • Nursing
  • Interinstitutional Relations
  • Humans
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Common Data Elements