Table 2. Data quality control and means for patient follow-up observed in a 15-country study correlating medical record-keeping practices with losses to follow-up in ART programmes.
| Site | Purpose of database | Data quality control and safety |
Patient follow-up |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CD4 counts | Medication | Dates (of birth, laboratory measurements, follow-up visits, death) |
Controlled medical vocabulary | Backup | Automatic alerts for scheduling tests and visits | Tracing of patients | ||||
| WORM (%) | Bounds (%) | |||||||||
| Africa | ||||||||||
| Central | PM & R | D | None | 0 | 0 | None | Weekly | No | OR, CBO | |
| Eastern | PM & R | D, B, W, N | FT, W | 100 | 100 | ICD-10 | Daily | Yes | OR, DR | |
| R | None | FT | 50 | 0 | None | Weekly | No | OR, CBO, DR | ||
| NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | None | NA | NA | CBO | ||
| PM & R | N | None | 0 | 100 | None | Daily | No | OR | ||
| Southern | PM & R | D, B, W | FT, W | 100 | 100 | None | Daily | Yes | OR | |
| R | None | FT | 0 | 25 | ICD-10 | Daily | Yes | OR, DR | ||
| R | NA | NA | NA | NA | None | NA | NA | OR, DR | ||
| R | NA | NA | NA | NA | None | NA | NA | None | ||
| PM & R | None | None | 0 | 25 | None | Daily | No | CBO | ||
| Western | PM & R | D | FT | 100 | 0 | None | None | No | None | |
| PM & R | B | FT | 100 | 0 | None | Monthly | No | None | ||
| PM & R | D | None | 0 | 25 | None | Daily | No | None | ||
| PM | None | None | 0 | 100 | ICD-10 | Daily | Yes | OR | ||
| PM & R | W | None | 100 | 0 | None | Monthly | No | None | ||
| PM & R | D | None | 0 | 0 | None | None | No | None | ||
| PM & R | None | FT | 0 | 0 | None | Daily | Yes | OR, DR | ||
| PM & R | None | None | 0 | 0 | None | Daily | No | OR | ||
| Asia | PM & R | D, B, W | FT, W | 100 | 100 | None | Daily | No | DR | |
| PM & R | N, B | None | 0 | 25 | None | Daily | No | OR, CBO | ||
| South America | R | B | FT | 100 | 0 | None | Daily | No | DR | |
ART, antiretroviral therapy; B, bounds system; CBO, community-based organizations; CD4, CD4+ lymphocytes; D, digit checks; DR, death registry; FT, fixed taxonomy; ICD-10, International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, 10th revision; N, numerical alert; NA, not applicable (sites not routinely using a computerized database); OR, outreach team; PM, patient management; R, reporting; WORM and W, Write Once, Read Many.