Comparison of precision of a paperless electronic input method versus the conventional paper form in an andrology laboratory: a prospective study

Lam, Kevin K. W.; Tsang, Percy C. K.; Chan, Connie C. Y.; Ng, Evans P. K.; Cheung, Tak-Ming; Li, Raymond H. W.; Ng, Ernest H. Y.; Yeung, William S. B.

doi:10.1186/s12610-024-00248-9

Basic and Clinical Andrology

Table 1 Date collected in the paperless group and the paper group

From: Comparison of precision of a paperless electronic input method versus the conventional paper form in an andrology laboratory: a prospective study

Category of data collected	Data collected	Type of data input	Data collected in paperless group?	Data collected in paper group?
Sample information	Identification number of patient	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Full name of patient	Text	Yes	Yes
	Date of birth of patient	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Identification number of spouse	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Full name of spouse	Text	Yes	Yes
	Date of birth of spouse	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Date of sample submission	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Requesting clinic	Text	Yes	Yes
	Assigned sample number	Numerical	No	Yes
	Duration of sexual abstinence	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Time of sample collection	Numerical	Yes	No
	Time of sample acceptance	Numerical	Yes	No
	Location of sample collection	Categorical	Yes	No
	Sample collection method	Categorical	Yes	No
	Completeness of sample collection	Categorical	Yes	No
	Time receiving the semen sample	Numerical	Yes	No
	Semen submitted by patient or other personnel	Categorical	Yes	No
	Remarks	Text	No	Yes
Macroscopic examination parameters	Liquefaction time	Categorical	Yes	Yes
	pH of the ejaculate	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Colour of the ejaculate	Categorical	Yes	Yes
	Consistency of the ejaculate	Categorical	Yes	Yes
	Volume of the ejaculate	Numerical	Yes	Yes
Microscopic examination parameters	Percentage of progressively motile sperm (first count)	Numerical	Yes^a	Yes; average of the two counts^a
	Percentage of progressively motile sperm (second count)	Numerical	Yes^a	Yes; average of the two counts^a
	Percentage of non-progressively motile sperm (first count)	Numerical	Yes^a	Yes, average of the two counts^a
	Percentage of non-progressively motile sperm (second count)	Numerical	Yes^a	Yes, average of the two counts^a
	Percentage of immotile sperm (first count)	Numerical	Yes^a	Yes, average of the two counts^a
	Percentage of immotile sperm (second count)	Numerical	Yes^a	Yes, average of the two counts^a
	Time of motility analysis post ejaculation	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Sperm concentration (first count)	Numerical	Yes^b	Yes, average of the two counts
	Sperm concentration (second count)	Numerical	Yes^b	Yes, average of the two counts
	Percentage of sperm with normal morphology	Numerical	Yes	Yes
	Percentage of viable sperm	Numerical	Yes	Yes

This table compares the data collected in the paperless and the paper group, with the data categorized into numerical, text or categorical entries
The values between replicate assessments were within the acceptable difference
^a = data entry fields with auto-checking function for the sum of all motility grades
^b = data entry fields with auto-calculating function for sperm concentration

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ISSN: 2051-4190

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