Standardised and reproducible phenotyping using distributed analytics and tools in the Data Analysis and Real World Interrogation Network (DARWIN EU)

Abstract

Purpose: The generation of representative disease phenotypes is important for ensuring the reliability of the findings of observational studies. The aim of this manuscript is to outline a reproducible framework for reliable and traceable phenotype generation based on real world data for use in the Data Analysis and Real-World Interrogation Network (DARWIN EU). We illustrate the use of this framework by generating phenotypes for two diseases: pancreatic cancer and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: The phenotyping process involves a 14-steps process based on a standard operating procedure co-created by the DARWIN EU Coordination Centre in collaboration with the European Medicines Agency. A number of bespoke R packages were utilised to generate and review codelists for two phenotypes based on real world data mapped to the OMOP Common Data Model. Results: Codelists were generated for both pancreatic cancer and SLE, and cohorts were generated in six OMOP-mapped databases. Diagnostic checks were performed, which showed these cohorts had broadly similar incidence and prevalence figures to previously published literature, despite significant inter-database variability. Co-occurrent symptoms, conditions, and medication use were in keeping with pre-specified clinical descriptions based on previous knowledge. Conclusions: Our detailed phenotyping process makes use of bespoke tools and allows for comprehensive codelist generation and review, as well as large-scale exploration of the characteristics of the resulting cohorts. Wider use of structured and reproducible phenotyping methods will be important in ensuring the reliability of observational studies for regulatory purposes.