OBJECTIVES: The aim of effective data quality control and management is to minimize the impact of errors on study results by identifying and correcting them. This study presents the results of a data quality control system for the Korea HIV/AIDS Cohort Study that took into account the characteristics of the data. METHODS: The HIV/AIDS Cohort Study in Korea conducts repeated measurements every 6 months using an electronic survey administered to voluntarily consenting participants and collects data from 21 hospitals. In total, 5,795 sets of data from 1,442 participants were collected from the first investigation in 2006 to 2016. The data refining results of 2015 and 2019 were converted into the data refining rate and compared. RESULTS: The quality control system involved 3 steps at different points in the process, and each step contributed to data quality management and results. By improving data quality control in the pre-phase and the data collection phase, the estimated error value in 2019 was 1,803, reflecting a 53.9% reduction from 2015. Due to improvements in the stage after data collection, the data refining rate was 92.7% in 2019, a 24.21%p increase from 2015. CONCLUSIONS: Despite this quality management strategy, errors may still exist at each stage. Logically possible errors for the post-review refining of downloaded data should be actively identified with appropriate consideration of the purpose and epidemiological characteristics of the study data. To improve data quality and reliability, data management strategies should be systematically implemented.

Kim YC, et al. Yonsei Med J. 2020 Aug;61(8):705-711. https://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2020.61.8.705

Bae JY, et al. Infect Chemother. 2022 Sep;54(3):409-418. https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2022.0048

Choi Y, et al. Infect Chemother. 2024 Nov;56:e56. https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2024.0085

Jihee Kim, Soo Min Kim, Bok Ki Jung, Sang Ho Oh, Young-Koo Kim, Ju Hee Lee. Medical Lasers; Engineering, Basic Research, and Clinical Application 2021;10:161-9. https://doi.org/10.25289/ML.2021.10.3.161

Objectives: Whether habitual salt consumption is related to vasomotor symptoms (VMS) during the menopausal transition has received little attention. We investigated the relationship of salt-related eating behaviors with bothersome VMS over time and explored whether body composition modified this relationship. Methods: We analyzed repeated observations from 3664 Korean women who entered the cohort between 2014 and 2018 and were followed until July 2024. A three-item questionnaire was used to generate a salt intake habit score, which was divided into tertiles. Bothersome VMS across repeated visits were analyzed using logistic mixed-effects models with inverse probability weighting, and effect modification by adiposity was explored. Results: At enrollment, mean age was 45.6 years; among women with repeated assessments, the median observation period was 5.6 years. Relative to the lowest salt intake tertile, adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for bothersome VMS were 1.48 (1.22–1.80) in the middle tertile and 1.51 (1.20–1.89) in the highest tertile. The association appeared stronger among women with percentage body fat ≥35% (p for interaction = 0.032), although the interaction did not reach the Bonferroni-corrected threshold (p < 0.0167). Conclusions: Saltier eating habits were related to a greater likelihood of bothersome VMS during follow-up. These findings should be considered hypothesis-generating, and whether reducing salt consumption also decreases VMS warrants testing in intervention studies.