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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The Fifth IFSO Global Registry Report (2019) has been released at the XXIV World Congress of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) in Madrid, Spain. Published by Dendrite Clinical Systems, under the auspices of the IFSO, the publication reports data from more than 60 countries on over 833,000 operations including baseline obesity-related disease, operation types, operative outcomes and disease status after bariatric surgery.
Dendrite Clinical Systems has announced the installation of its National Bariatric Surgical Registry software at the Sheik Al Jaber Al Sabah Hospital, in Kuwait. The Sheik Al Jaber Al Sabah Hospital, opened by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah in November 2018, consists of five towering 10-stories structures built on a 220,000 square meters and has a hospital bed capacity of around 1,160 with 36 operation rooms, a medical centre, a helipad and a parking lot accommodating some 5,000 vehicles.
Dendrite Clinical Systems and the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong have launched the Asian Hypospadias Outcome Registry (AHOR), is a prospective web-based patient registry that will collect, record and analyse the treatment and outcomes of patients undergoing surgical repair.
Dendrite Clinical Systems has launched its ‘One-button push’ outcomes module, allowing clinicians to instantly produce their outcomes with the push of a single button. This enhancement is the latest in a series of advances incorporated into the company’s clinical registry software.
Dendrite Clinical Systems, the publisher of Bariatric News, is pleased to announce issue 40 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.
Dendrite Clinical Systems – in collaboration with Haemotology Cancer Care (UCLH Charity), the Royal Free Charity, HaemSTAR (an organisation researching non-malignant haematology) and MPN Voice – have launched the MASCOT (Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Splanchnic Vein Thrombosis, MPN-SVT) Registry, a UK wide registry for patients with myeloproliferative diseases suffering from splanchnic or abdominal vein thrombosis.


