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Cystic Fibrosis in Australia

Data Registry

Cystic Fibrosis in Australia 2008 (PDF)

Cystic Fibrosis in Australia 2007 (PDF)

BACKGROUND

In 1996 Cystic Fibrosis Australia decided to set up a National Data Registry. Over the next 2 years all aspects of developing the data registry (DR) were explored until a final model was released in 1998.

We thank both Roche Products and Solvay Pharmaceuticals for the financial assistance they gave to set up the DR and to maintain ongoing funding.

We further thank the clinical staffs that do most of the work in keeping the DR up to date - this is not an easy job, but it has a rewarding outcome.

NATURE OF THE DATA REGISTRY

Using data from CF centres in Australia the primary aim of the registry is to monitor disease progress in Cystic Fibrosis on an Australian basis. 

WHY SHOULD WE HAVE AN AUSTRALIAN CF REGISTRY?

An accurate and adequately funded data registry is an essential information source for any group or organisation seeking to provide accurate information, education and research resources. In medicine, many such data registries have been established and registries have been established for many years in the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom and more recently the European Community. In Australia, similar medical data registries include the Perinatal Data Registry, the Twin Registry and the Cancer Registry.

It is hoped that information coming from the registry will identify areas where the health of CF patients may be improved by the appropriate allocation of health resources. It will also provide a major resource tool for CF researchers in Australia. Only a region-wide (Australia) can provide these benefits to people with CF, their families and CF health care professionals and researchers.

HOW THE REGISTRY WILL WORK

The Australian Cystic Fibrosis Data Registry will collect data annually from CF centres on their patient's health status (eg. height, weight, lung function) and markers of quality of life (eg. days spent in hospital, year at school, employment). The information will be obtained from the hospital medical record. The registry will not contact patients or their families and all the records are kept strictly confidential. If you would like to inspect a blank data form containing all the questions asked, please let us know and we will provide it to you via your clinic.

SECURITY, CONFIDENTIALITY AND THE DATA REGISTRY

Australian Cystic Fibrosis Data Registry Information Management Policy and Practices 2005 

The data is stored in the registry in what is known as a 'potentially identifiable' form. This means that a code is assigned to each patient (eg. 204COPE, 204MCKA) and that a single list of patient names and their assigned code is kept separately which could then be used to decode a patient's data entry if necessary. This is important so that if for example, a patient moves from a CF centre at a Children's Hospital to a CF centre at an Adult Hospital, or if a family relocate to another state, the patient's information can be re-accessed and their entry in the data registry transferred to their new centre. All the data submitted to the registry will have the patient's code but not their name attached to it and so the only place where the data can be re-identified is the CF clinic.

A summary report of the data collected for the data registry may be submitted for publication and an annual report will be produced by Cystic Fibrosis Australia, but individual participants will not be identifiable in such a report.

PLEASE HELP US HELP YOU - Make sure your clinic is entering your details

FUNDING

Cystic Fibrosis Australia would like to acknowledge and thank the following organizations for their generous financial support over a number of years

NATIONAL DATA REGISTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Thanks go to the following, which have shown a commitment to making the Data Registry a useful tool for improving health and standards in the community.

Members are:

Mr. Terry Stewart, CEO Cystic Fibrosis Australia (Chair)

Assoc. Prof Scott Bell, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane QLD

Assoc. Prof Peter Bye, Royal Price Alfred Hospital, Camperdown NSW

Dr Peter Cooper, The Children's Hospital, Westmead NSW

Assoc. Prof. Adam Jaffe, The Sydney Children’s Hospital

Assoc. Prof James Martin, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide SA

Dr Gerard Ryan, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth WA

Assoc. Prof. Philip Robinson. Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. VIC

Mr. Geoff Sims, Statistician, Data Base Management and Reporting

Mrs. Zez Stankovic, National Data Registry Coordinator, CFA

 

 

Mother cuddling her sun whilst blowing fairies on a dandelion flower

The NDR enables us to care for people who suffer from Cystic Fibrosis and to monitor disease progression and mortality on a National scale. This also involves genetic research, and allows us to study the impact of new treatment and technology. The Registry also assists multi-centre trials, nationally and internationally.

It is our mission to see that every person with Cystic Fibrosis no matter what age or sex is entitled to the very best care whether they live within walking distance from a Major CF Centre or in the most remote part of Australia. To do this, we have to know where these people live, to be able to provide accurate information in order to gain funding.

Carmel Moriarty RN
Research Nurse
Department of Respiratory Medicine
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital