Researchers at the University College London and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), London, UK, have reported that the vast majority of participants with new onset loss of smell were positive for COVID19, and this acute loss of sense of smell needs to be considered globally as a criterion for self-isolation, testing and contact tracing in order to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The Finding Out if COVID-19 Infection Can be pREdicted by ChAnges in Smell and/or Taste (FORECAST) study, led by Professor Rachel Batterham, is a unique observational cohort study looked at two cohorts of patients presenting with COVID-19. The study utilised Dendrite Clinical Systems’ innovative Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) software.
“We are delighted that our PROMs software proved to be highly effective in validating participants eligibility for the study and capturing and recording their data,” said Dr Peter Walton, Managing Director of Dendrite Clinical Systems. “The outcomes from the FORECAST study clearly demonstrate that the loss of smell and/or taste are highly-reliable indicators that someone is likely to have Covid-19. These finding could help dramatically reduce the spread of this pandemic and will help direct global healthcare practice in the fight against COVID19.”
PROMS software
Using the unique Covid Symptom Study app, over 33,000 text messages were sent by four London-based primary care centres inviting adults with loss of smell and/or taste in the preceding month to participate in the study. Participants wanted to be enrolled in the study were directed to a web-based platform, developed and hosted by Dendrite.
Once on the platform, participants were asked a series of questions to assess their eligibility, as well as having access to information on the study design, patient information sheets etc. After their eligibility was verified, participants then completed the on-line consent form and received a confirmation message. They then entered their contact and GP details, and the central Dendrite Registry then automatically sent a letter to the patient’s GP to confirm enrolment in the study.
Participants were then sent a point-of-care COVID19 testing kit. If a positive test was recorded, the central Dendrite Registry automatically issued a letter to the patient and the patient’s GP, and also automatically issued a letter to the patient’s GP when the study was completed.
The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at UCLH.
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Sapphire Medical Clinics and Dendrite Clinical Systems have launched the UK Medical Cannabis Registry, an initiative that is designed to rapidly expand the evidence base for medical cannabis in the UK and decrease the cost of access for patients. The launch will collect and analyse clinical information on patients taking medical cannabis treatments for all recognised eligible conditions.
“I am very pleased to report that demand for the Dendrite Web-Registry platform has reached an all-time high” Dr Peter Walton, Managing Director of Dendrite Clinical System. “We’re receiving new orders for new national and international registries every few days now – for surgical registries, medical registries, rare disease registries, medical device registries and Coronavirus Registries (for a range of Community, National, International and Global Covid-19 Registries).”
Sapphire Medical Clinics and Dendrite Clinical Systems have established the UK’s first national UK’s first comprehensive medical cannabis patient registry - UK Medical Cannabis Registry. The UK Medical Cannabis Registry will be the first of its kind covering all conditions for which there is evidence of clinical efficacy of medical cannabis. The formation of the registry means that real world evidence, cited as a key barrier to wider patient prescriptions by NHS England, will now be available on request to the medical community for analysis.
The British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS), in conjunction with Dendrite Clinical Systems, is delighted to announce the release of the First UK National Flap Registry (UKNFR) Report. The UKNFR, which was launched in August 2015, collects information on all major free and pedicled flap operations carried out in the UK.
Dendrite Clinical Systems, the publisher of Bariatric News, has announced the publication of the Bariatric News Industry and Product Guide 2019 – a comprehensive A-Z guide to companies, products and services within the bariatric and metabolic specialty.
Dendrite Clinical Systems, the publisher of Bariatric News, is pleased to announce issue 39 of the newspaper is now available to view/download. The newspaper reports on research, technology, events and policy in the bariatric specialty, the latest clinical studies, policy changes and product news, the latest meetings and events, interviews prominent bariatric experts, and host debates between specialists on controversial topics.


