Maintenance of a nutrient database for clinical trials

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Clinical Research Methodology
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Accurate nutrient databases are crucial for valid dietary analysis in medical research.
• Existing databases may contain errors or inconsistencies affecting study outcomes.
• The Nutrition Coordinating Center (NCC) has developed a system for maintaining such databases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the maintenance procedures for a nutrient database used in clinical trials.
• To identify potential sources of error in nutrient databases and provide criteria for selection.
• To ensure updated and verified nutrient calculations for medical research.

Main Methods:

• Standardized procedures for data selection, imputation, quality control, recipe calculations, and documentation.
• Development and maintenance of multiple database versions to balance updates and stability.
• Criteria for selecting nutrient databases to meet specific study objectives.

Main Results:

• The NCC nutrient database supports a wide range of diet-disease investigations (e.g., cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis).
• Standardized maintenance procedures minimize errors and inconsistencies in dietary intake data.
• Multiple database versions allow for ongoing updates while ensuring stability for ongoing studies.

Conclusions:

• The NCC's approach to nutrient database maintenance provides reliable data for clinical research.
• Adherence to standardized procedures and version control enhances the quality of dietary analysis.
• This system is essential for accurate investigations into diet-disease relationships.