Summary
This article covers the use of dependencies.
Table of Contents
The amount of data collected in a clinical study can be enormous. One of the main features of the Fountayn clinical research platform is the use of dependencies, which allow for simple checks of data against predefined rules. These can be as simple as ensuring a user enters three characters for a patient’s initials, or as complex as checks against multiple dependent questions on different visits to see if a particular value is within 10% of the expected range. The idea is to let the computer do a lot of the data cleaning “grunt work” and fix problems before they occur. Dependencies are configured in the DataArchitect file.
How Dependencies Function
No matter how simple or complicated a dependency is, they all function in essentially the same way. The following flowchart can help you understand when dependencies are evaluated and when they are ignored.
There is an exception to the above flowchart. If a question’s value does not change, but the value of a dependent question changes and that question is on the same form, then that particular dependency will be re-evaluated. A dependent question is any question that is referenced in the expression of a dependency.
Cross-form edit checks will re-evaluate when a dependent question is updated, provided that the form the dependent question is on existed at the time of the initial save. In the case where the check is required but the dependent form does not exist, a script will be required.Whenever a ‘target’ or ‘dependent’ is saved, the entire script is rechecked and the alert will fire or clear, as needed.
For more information regarding Scripts, please click here.
A Simple “Check if blank” Dependency
The simplest (and most common) kind of dependency is the kind that only checks to make sure the user has entered information. It doesn’t matter what the information is; the question simply cannot be blank. Below is a table indicating what this dependency would look like in a DataArchitect file.
| questionTypeId | dependencyId | Expression Type | Check If Blank | Correction Required | Expression | Alert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subjid | 1 | yes | optional | this != ” | An answer must be provided. Please review and correct. |
The dependency is only executed when the question is saved blank, as indicated by “yes” for “Check if Blank”. However, the expression states that this question cannot be blank, which is a contradiction. Therefore, whenever this question is saved blank, an alert will appear to the user stating “An answer must be provided. Please review and correct.”
You may be wondering what exactly the text in the Expression category means. To learn about the eClinical Expression Language, please read the Expression Language section .
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