title: Open-source electronic data capture system offered increased accuracy and cost-effectiveness compared with paper methods in Africa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Existing electronic data capture options are often financially unfeasible in resource-poor settings or difficult to support technically in the field. To help facilitate large-scale multicenter studies in sub-Saharan Africa, the African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research (APCDR) has developed an open-source electronic questionnaire (EQ).
  
  
  METHODS
  To assess its relative validity, we compared the EQ against traditional pen-and-paper methods using 200 randomized interviews conducted in an ongoing type 2 diabetes case-control study in South Africa.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During its 3-month validation, the EQ had a lower frequency of errors (EQ, 0.17 errors per 100 questions; paper, 0.73 errors per 100 questions; P-value ≤0.001), and a lower monetary cost per correctly entered question, compared with the pen-and-paper method. We found no marked difference in the average duration of the interview between methods (EQ, 5.4 minutes; paper, 5.6 minutes).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This validation study suggests that the EQ may offer increased accuracy, similar interview duration, and increased cost-effectiveness compared with paper-based data collection methods. The APCDR EQ software is freely available (https://github.com/apcdr/questionnaire).
authors.affiliation: International Health Research Group, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Wort's Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, United Kingdom; Genetic Epidemiology Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1HH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Dillon
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag 7, Congella, 4013, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Fraser
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pirie
authors.affiliation: System Support Team, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1HH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.affiliation: International Health Research Group, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Wort's Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, United Kingdom; Genetic Epidemiology Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1HH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pomilla
authors.affiliation: International Health Research Group, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Wort's Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, United Kingdom; Genetic Epidemiology Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1HH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Manjinder S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sandhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag 7, Congella, 4013, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Ayesha A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Motala
authors.affiliation: International Health Research Group, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Wort's Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, United Kingdom; Genetic Epidemiology Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1HH, United Kingdom. Electronic address: liz.young@sanger.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003625:Data Collection / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D004581:Electronics / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D010209:Paper; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000191:economics
keywords: Data capture; Electronic questionnaire; Epidemiology; Open-source; Sub-Saharan Africa; Survey