Electronic data processing in the Danish Cytogenetic Central Register and EDP problems of registers in general

Abstract

A brief introduction to the Danish Cytogenetic Central Register (DCCR) is given, and possibilities, principles and problems concerning the establishment and maintenance of a national cytogenetic register are presented. Various data carrier media for registers in general are discussed, of which the magnetic disc is considered most appropriate. General principles for programs capable of performing insertions, deletions and other modifications in the data base and the principles for the programs in the DCCR are outlined. The individual records should preferably be identified by aid of a central person registration number rather than by name. The data should be stored and sorted by this identification to facilitate retrieval of a desired record. The structure of the records is discussed with regard to prevention of the occurrence of certain errors and the optimization of processing. Flexibility and economy of space are achieved by using programs able to handle records of unequal length, and problems occurring in connection with this are discussed. The question of how to protect sensitive data is dealt with, and 2 different methods used in the DCCR are outlined. Programs capable of analyzing karyotypes with the purpose of recognizing various cytogenetic syndromes are developed for use in the DCCR. Various examples of computing times of typical program runs are presented.