Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T10:49:39.762Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Improving Data Quality in Mass-Gatherings Health Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2017

Andrew Guy Open the ORCID record for Andrew Guy [Opens in a new window] ,
Ross Prager ,
Sheila Turris  and
Adam Lund
Andrew Guy
Affiliation:
MD Undergraduate Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ross Prager
Affiliation:
MD Undergraduate Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sheila Turris
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada School of Nursing, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Adam Lund*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Emergency Department, Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
*
Correspondence: Adam Lund, BSc, MD, Med, FRCPC Royal Columbian Hospital Emergency Department 330 E Columbia St. New Westminster, BC V3L 3W7 Canada E-mail: adam.lund@ubc.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Mass gatherings attract large crowds and can strain the planning and health resources of the community, city, or nation hosting an event. Mass-Gatherings Health (MGH) is an evolving niche of prehospital care rooted in emergency medicine, emergency management, public health, and disaster medicine. To explore front-line issues related to data quality in the context of mass gatherings, the authors draw on five years of management experience with an online, mass-gathering event and patient registry, as well as clinical and operational experience amassed over several decades.

Here the authors propose underlying human, environmental, and logistical factors that may contribute to poor data quality at mass gatherings, and make specific recommendations for improvement through pre-event planning, on-site actions, and post-event follow-up. The advancement of MGH research will rely on addressing factors that influence data quality and developing strategies to mitigate or enhance those factors. This is an exciting time for MGH research as higher order questions are beginning to be addressed; however, quality research must start from the ground up to ensure optimal primary data capture and quality.

GuyA, PragerR, TurrisS, LundA. Improving Data Quality in Mass-Gatherings Health Research. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(3):329–332.

Keywords

data accuracyemergency medicinemass-gatherings healthmass-gathering medicineresearch methodology
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , June 2017 , pp. 329 - 332
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Conflicts of interest: none

References

1. Al-Tawfiq, JA, Memish, ZA. Mass gatherings and infectious diseases: prevention, detection, and control. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2012;26(3):725-737.Google Scholar
2. Memish, ZA, Stephens, GM, Steffen, R, Ahmed, QA. Emergence of medicine for mass gatherings: lessons from the Hajj. Lancet Infect Dis. 2012;12(1):56-65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Milsten, AM, Maguire, BJ, Bissell, RA, Seaman, KG. Mass-gathering medical care: a review of the literature. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2002;17(3):151-162.Google Scholar
4. Lund, A, Turris, S, Bowles, R. Conceptualizing the impact of special events on community health service levels: an operational analysis. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(5):525-531.Google Scholar
5. Lund, A, Turris, SA, Bowles, R, et al. Mass gathering health research foundational theory: part 1 population models for mass gatherings. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(6):648-654.Google Scholar
6. Arbon, P. Mass-gathering medicine: a review of the evidence and future directions for research. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2007;22(2):131-135.Google Scholar
7. Michael, JA, Barbera, JA. Mass gathering medical care: a twenty-five-year review. Prehosp Disaster Med. 1997;12(4):305-312.Google Scholar
8. Ranse, J, Hutton, A, Turris, SA, Lund, A. Enhancing the minimum data set for mass gathering research and evaluation: an integrative literature review. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(3):280-289.Google Scholar
9. Ranse, J, Hutton, A. Minimum data set for mass-gathering health research and evaluation: a discussion paper. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(6):543-550.Google Scholar
10. Turris, SA, Lund, A. Minimum data set for mass-gatherings health research and evaluation: a response. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(2):1-3.Google Scholar
11. Steenkamp, M, Ranse, J, Hutton, A, et al. Exploring international views on key concepts for mass gathering health through a Delphi process. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(4):443-453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. Turris, SA, Steenkamp, M, Lund, A, et al. International consensus on key concepts and data definitions for mass-gathering health: process and progress. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(2):1-4.Google Scholar
13. Arbon, P. The development of conceptual models for mass-gathering health. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2004;19(3):208-212.Google Scholar
14. Lund, A, Turris, SA, Bowles, R. Conceptualizing the impact of special events on community health service levels: an operational analysis. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(5):525-531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Lund, A, Turris, SA, Amiri, N, Carson, M, Lewis, K. Mass-gathering medicine: creation of an online event and patient registry. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(6):601-611.Google Scholar
16. Eden, KB. Examining the value of electronic health records on labor and delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2008;199(3):307(e1-e9).Google Scholar
17. Zeitz, K, Zeitz, C, Arbon, P, Cheney, F, Johnston, R, Hennekam, J. Practical solutions for injury surveillance at mass gatherings. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2008;23(1):76-81.Google Scholar
18. Campbell, JP, Maxey, VA, Watson, WA. Hawthorne effect: implications for prehospital research. Ann Emerg Med. 1995;26(5):590-594.Google Scholar