From: Latin American Study of Nutrition and Health (ELANS): rationale and study design
Levels of quality control | Phases | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Design and planning | Pilot testing | Data collection | Data analysis | |
Coordinating center | •Critical review of protocols •Harmonization of manual of operations for eight study sites •Coordination of timelines and activities | •Smoothness and feasibility of field operations assessed | •Monitoring field activities | •Audit and evaluate validity of findings prior to publication •Internal peer reviews prior to publication |
Principal Investigators | •Review of design and planning of the study •Regular meetings with coordinating center | •Audit after completion of the pilot | •Supervising and ensuring accuracy of data entry | •Validity checks •Results review |
Field Personnel | •Extensive training over a period of 7 to 10 days-theory and practical-by the study managers | •Evaluated all field and documenting difficulties | •Field coordinator will assure that procedures for data collections and quality control are followed •Additional training when necessary | |
Survey Questionnaires | •Peer-reviewed •Validated •Translated to local languages | •Consistency in small pilot study will be established | •Regular checks done to assess completeness | •Incomplete questionnaires identified and discarded |
Measuring Equipment | •Standardization of equipment and measurements •Acquired by each country •Development of anthropometric procedures manual | •Evaluation of calibration techniques, acceptability of use in field | •Regular calibration of equipment; faulty equipment replaced when required | |
Documentation | •Assurance of standardized procedures across the sites •Training in appropriate and legible documentation | •Recording legibility assessed | •Audit recordings | |
Data Storage & Confidentiality | •Data back-up and protection policies established | •Accessibility of software assessed | •Identify inconsistencies •Corrective actions •Locked and password protected data storage •Active back-up | •Datasets identified •Access to personal identifiers limited |
Data Entry | •Training of staff •Protocols, consistent data cleaning methods and verification systems established | •Variability assessments conducted | •Interim analyses to identify duplicate entries | •Reporting of outliers •Validity checks •Database errors tracked |