Advancing spinal cord injury research through data harmonization and integrative analysis across large data sets

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

2:15 PM – 3:30 PM

Presenter(s)

Yuying Chen, MD, PhD

Professor
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Slides
Tapan Mehta, PhD

Professor, Vice Chair of Research
Department of Family and Community Medicine UAB
Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Slides
Stephen Burns, MD

SCI Service Director
VA Puget Sound Health Care System
Seattle, Washington, United States

Slides
Jennifer L. Sippel, PhD

SCI/D National Outcomes Director
Veterans Health Administration
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Slides
Vanessa K. Noonan, PhD PT

Director, Research and Best Practice Implementation
Praxis Spinal Cord Institute
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Slides
Dan Pierce, MD

Assistant Professor
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska, United States

This symposium will highlight three largest spinal cord injury (SCI) databases in the North America and demonstrate the opportunities and challenges of pooling data from different sources for building cumulative knowledge bases. Analyzing data from these databases, we will present profile of people living with SCI for years to help project needs and allocate resources for health care and social supports. We will review efforts toward data harmonization and standards for interoperable health information exchange. Taking advantage of the vast but different data already collected over years requires sophisticated statistical methodology. We will discuss a meta-analytic approach to address nuances across data sets for knowledge synthesis. Ultimately, our ability to speak the same language with regard to data elements will facilitate international collaborations and cumulative knowledge building that will further advance our ability to apply such knowledge bases to a broader representative population in clinical care.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the three largest spinal cord injury (SCI) databases/registries in the North America
Discuss the opportunities and challenges in building cumulative knowledge bases through integrative data analysis across different data sets
Identify opportunities for data harmonization and standards for interoperable health information exchange