The MARK-AGE Phenotypic Database: Structure and Strategy

Publication date: Available online 27 March 2015 Source:Mechanisms of Ageing and Development Author(s): María Moreno-Villanueva , Tobias Kötter , Thilo Sindlinger , Jennifer Baur , Sebastian Oehlke , Alexander Bürkle , Michael R. Berthold In the context of the MARK-AGE study, anthropometric, clinical and social data as well as samples of venous blood, buccal mucosal cells and urine were systematically collected from 3337 volunteers. Information from about 500 standardized questions and about 500 analyzed biomarkers needed to be documented per individual. On the one hand handling with such a vast amount of data necessitates the use of appropriate informatics tools and the establishment of a database. On the other hand personal information on subjects obtained as a result of such studies has, of course, to be kept confidential, and therefore the investigators must ensure that the subjects' anonymity will be maintained. Such secrecy obligation implies a well-designed and secure system for data storage. In order to fulfil the demands of the MARK-AGE study we established a phenotypic database for storing information on the study subjects by using a doubly coded system.
Source: Mechanisms of Ageing and Development - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research