Common Data Elements: Increasing FAIR Data Sharing

This article was originally published in the National Library of Medicine’s blog, Musings from the Mezzanine. Carolina Mendoza-Puccini, MD, CDE Program Officer, Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Kenneth J. Wilkins, PhD, Mathematical Statistician, Biostatistics Program and Office of Clinical Research Support, Office of the Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Previous posts published in Musings from the Mezzanine have explained the importance of health data standards and their role as the backbone of interoperability. Common Data Elements (CDEs) are a type of health data standard that is commonly used and reused in both clinical and research settings. CDEs capture complex phenomena, like depression, or recovery, through standardized, well defined questions (variables) that are paired with a set of allowable responses (values) that are used in a standardized way across studies or trials. CDEs provide a way to standardize data collection—ensuring that data are collected consistently, and otherwise-avoidable variability is minimized. Where possible, CDEs are linked to controlled vocabularies and terminologies commonly used in health care, such as SNOMED-CT and LOINC, and CDEs can provide a route to harmonize with non-prospective clinical research designs. Such links leverage common data entities, like clinical concepts underlying common data models, to al...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike common data elements Data sharing FAIR Source Type: funding