Download - Repeating Instruments and Events - University of Florida...Preparing Repeating Instruments and Events To use repeating instruments or events on your project, you must first enable

REDCap:RepeatingFormsandEvents–How-ToGuide 1

RepeatingInstrumentsandEvents

REDCaphastheabilitytorepeatadatacollectioninstrumentoranentireeventofinstrumentsanunlimitednumberoftimeswithouthavingtospecifytheamountneeded.Thisissometimescalledone-to-manydatacollection,inwhichaprojectcanhaveoneormorerepeatingparts.

LinktoVideoTutorial:

https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/consortium/videoplayer.php?video=repeating_forms_events01.mp4&title=Designating%20Instruments%20for%20Events%20in%20Longitudinal%20Projects&r

eferer=redcapstage.ctsi.ufl.edu

ConceptREDCapnowhasafeaturetoallowrepeatinginstrumentsandevents.Thisisveryhelpfulifyouhavetocollectmultipleinstancesofthesamedata.Thismeansthatitisnolongernecessarytocreateaspecifiednumberofinstancesofaninstrument(orevent)ifyouneedtocollectmultipleinstances.Forexample:ifyouaredoingastudyonanewexperimentaldrugandneedtotrackpatientprogressfor20weeks,youmighthaveaninstrumentthatincludesallthequestionsnecessaryforeachweek’svisit.Now,insteadofcreating20instancesofthis“visit”instrument(sayvisit1,visit2,etc.),youcansimplymakethevisitinstrumentarepeatinginstrument.Anotherbenefitisyouarenolongerlimitedbytheplannednumberofrepetitions.Continuingwiththeexampleabove,sayyouhadsomepatientsthatneededtobestudiedforanadditional12weeks(32weekstotal).Insteadofmanuallycreating12morevisitinstruments,youcangotothepreviousvisitinstrumentandselectSave&AddNewInstance.Thisway,youcaneasilyaddunplannedrepetitions.Youarenolongerlimitedbyyourmaximumnumberofinstances.Additionally,youcanhaveadifferentnumberofinstancesofaninstrumentfordifferentrecords.Usingtheaboveexample,somepatientsmayhavedatafor20visits,andothersmayhavedatafor32visits.Youcouldevenhavesomepatientsthatmissedafewvisits,sotheyendupwith19,18,or30visits.Thatisfine.Eachrecordcanhaveauniquenumberofrepetitions.

Nowlet’stakealookattheimplementationofrepeatinginstrumentsandevents.


PreparingRepeatingInstrumentsandEventsTouserepeatinginstrumentsoreventsonyourproject,youmustfirstenableitontheprojectsetuppage.Itisthefirstoptionunderthe“Enableoptionalmodulesandcustomizations”section.

Whenyouclickenable,youwillgetapopupwindowaskingwhichinstruments(andevents,iftheprojectislongitudinal)shouldbemaderepeatable.


Ifyourprojectisclassic(NONlongitudinal),yourpopupwilllooksomethinglikethis:

Ifyourprojectislongitudinalyourpopupwilllookmorelikethis:


Foraclassic(NONlongitudinal)study:Ifyouhaveaninstrumentyouwouldliketorepeat,simplymarkitscheckboxinthe“RepeatThisInstrument?”column.Foralongitudinalstudy:Youwillseeeacheventlistedalongwithitsdesignatedinstruments.Ifyouwouldliketorepeateveryinstrumentintheevent,youcanselect“RepeatEntireEvent(repeatallinstrumentstogether)”fromthedropdownmenu“Repeatentireeventorselectedinstruments?”.Repeatinganeventwouldallowaparticipanttorepeatallinstrumentsintheevent.However,theparticipantcouldnotpickandchoosewhatinstrumentsshouldberepeated,itwouldinsteadrepeatthemallatonce,asiftheywereapackage.Incasetheparticipantneedstochoosetorepeatonlyspecificinstrumentsonanevent,theeventshouldnotbemarkedforrepeat,onlytheinstrumentsthatcouldberepeated.Forexample:inthescreenshotabove,theDailyeventhasinstrumentsMood,Diet,CaffeineIntake,andExercise.Let’ssaythatthedailydietaryinfostaysthesame.Inthiscase,youwanttheparticipantstobeabletorepeattheMood,CaffeineIntakeandExerciseinstruments,buttheDietinstrumentshouldonlybeenteredonthefirstDailyoccurrence.Toaccomplishthis,youselect“RepeatInstruments(repeatindependentlyofeachother)”fromthedropdownfortheDailyevent(inthe“Repeatentireevenorselectedinstruments?”column).Then,youchecktheMood,CaffeineIntake,andExerciseinstruments(underthe“Instrumentname”column).NowtheparticipantscancreatenewinstancesoftheMood,CaffeineIntake,andExerciseinstrumentsasneeded.Furthermore,theparticipantsnowhavetheflexibilitytocreateanewinstrumentinstancewithoutcreatinganewinstanceofanyotherinstrument.Iftheparticipanthaddonemoreexercisingoneday(sayanextrabikeride),thentheycanaddanotherExerciseinstancewithoutcreatingadditionalinstancesoftheotherinstruments.

Torecap,choose“RepeatEntireEvent”ifallinstrumentsshouldberepeatedtogetherorchoose“RepeatInstruments”ifsomeinstrumentsshouldhavemoreinstancesthanothers.


CreatingandEditingRepeatInstances–

1) ByEvent

Torecordanewinstanceofanevent,navigatetoAdd/EditRecordsandselecttheappropriaterecord.Fromthere,youcanselect“+Addnew”foranyeventthatisarepeatingevent.

Notice,theeventdoesnotneedtobecompletelyfilledoutforyoutoaddanewinstance,butyoucannotaddanewinstanceifthereisalreadyanemptyinstance(noaddnewbuttononthe4thinstancebelow).

Youcandeleteaninstancebyclickingthexatthebottomofthecolumn(onthebottomrow,“Deletealldataonevent”).Youcanaltereachentryforarecordjustbyclickingontheinstrumentandinstanceyouwant.Forexample:intheimageabove,youcancompletetheincomplete3rdinstanceofthePreliminarySurveybyclickingontheredbubble.Thistakesyoutoastandardrecordentrypage,butyouwillseean“(Instance#3)”nexttotheeventname.


2) ByInstrument

Wheneditingarepeatinginstrument,youhaveanadditionalsaveoption“Save&AddNewInstance”.

Oryoucanaddanewinstancetoaninstrumentfromtherecordhomepageaslongastheinstrumentisnotempty(hasnothadanydatasaved).Dothiswiththeplusbuttononthesideoftheinstrument.

Oryoucanaddaninstanceby

1) clickingastackofmultipleinstances2) andselectingthe“+Addnew”buttonatthebottomofthepopup.


Onceyoucreateafewrepeatinstrumentinstances,youwillseetheentriesbelowtheprimaryrecord/instrumenttable.Youcanaddanewinstrumentinstancefromtheselistsofrepeatinginstrumentstoo.

Ifyouhavesurveysenabled,youcanalsoallowparticipantstocreatenewinstancesofaninstrumentintheSurveySettings.


Onceyouenablethe“Allowrespondentstorepeatthesurvey”option,youwillseealoopingarrowiconnexttothesurveyfromtheOnlineDesignerpage.Below,wehaveallowedrespondentstorepeatthesurveyonourrepeatinginstrument,“Exercise”.Thisistheonlyinstrumentweenabletheoptionfor,soitistheonlyonewithaloopingarrowicon.

Asintherepeatingeventssection,youcandeleteentireeventswiththexatthebottomofthecolumn,butyoucanonlydeleteindividualinstancesofinstrumentsfromtheirdataentrypage.

Youcanaltereachentryforarecordjustbyclickingontheinstrumentandinstanceyouwant.Forexample:intheimageabove,youcancompletetheincomplete3rdinstanceofthePreliminarySurveybyclickingontheredbubble.Thistakesyoutoastandardrecordentrypage,butyouwillseean“(Instance#3)”nexttotheeventname.


ViewingRepeatingInstrumentsandEventsYoucanstillnavigatetoAdd/EditRecordstoseetheindividualrecords(sameviewastheexamplesusedintheCreateandEditRepeatInstrumentssection).However,thereareafewnewiconstoindicatewhenmultipleinstancesarecreated.Iftherearemultipleinstancesforaninstrumenttherearenowoverlappingbubbles.ThereisalegendonthetoprightoftheRecordStatusDashboardwhichexplainsthenewstatusnicely.

Noticeifyouclickontheoverlappingbubbles,apopupwillappeardisplayingallofthesavedinstancesoftheinstrumentaswellasan“+Addnew”buttontocreateanewinstance.Intheexamplebelow,instances1and3hadbeenfilledinandsavedforthe“PreliminarySurvey”.

Therearealsoafewdifferencesbetweenrepeatingevents,andindividualrepeatinginstruments.Intheimageabove,thePreliminaryeventwasmarkedforrepetition(RepeatEntireEvent),whiletheDailyeventhasrepeatinginstruments(RepeatInstruments).TheRecordStatusDashboardallowsyoutocreatenewinstancesofindividualinstrumentswiththe“+”button,butonlyiftheinstrumentsarebothmarkedasindividuallyrepeatingandtheyhaveonesavedinstance.Youcanseeabovethatrecord3hasnosavedinstances,sotheoptiontoaddanewindividualinstanceisnotavailable.


ExportingandImportingRepeatingDataandProjectDataDictionariesYoumaywanttoexportandimportdatafromyourprojectthathasrepeatingeventsorinstruments(orboth).Theseoptionsarelargelyunchanged,butthereareafewcaveatstobeawareof.Fordataexports,youmustdisablethe“Exportsurveyidentifierandsurveytimestampfield(s)?”option(ifyourprojectincludessurveys)ifyouplantoimportyourdatalater(youcanmanuallymakethechanges,butthiswouldbetediousandvulnerabletoaccidentalchanges).Thesurveyidentifierfieldkeepstrackofsurveyrespondents,andthetimestampfieldtracksthetimeofsubmission.Thesetwofieldsarenotstoredinthesamelocationasyourcollecteddata(itisoutsideofthedatadictionarystructure).IfyoutrytoimportarawdatacsvorCDISCODM(XML)thathassurveyidentifierandsurveytimestampfields,youwillgetanerrorsincethesefieldsarenotwithinyourdatadictionary(andthereforecannotbeimported).However,ifyouarenotworriedaboutimportingyourexporteddata(ifitisn’tsupposedtobeabackup),thesurveyidentifierandtimestampfieldsmaybeusefulinformationtoinclude.Ifyouwanttouseyourprojectasatemplate,oneoptionistoexport(andlaterimport)thedatadictionary.However,similartolongitudinalcapabilities,animporteddatadictionarycannotenablerepeatingeventsandinstruments.Ifyouimportadatadictionaryformaprojectwithrepeatingeventsorinstruments,youwillhavetomanuallyenablethe“Repeatinginstruments”optionontheProjectSurveypage.Anotheroptionforusingaprojectwithrepeatinginstrumentsasatemplateistocopytheproject.Whenyoucopytheproject(fromtheprojectsetuppage)youhavetheoptiontoincludeorexcludeexistingrecords,andyournewcopiedversionoftheprojectwillalreadyhavetheRepeatingInstrumentsoptionenabled.