Export clinical data model as REDCap-compatible format

anngvu commented 3 weeks ago

@cconrad8 and I had a REDCap-related discussion which led to nice feature that should probably be made possible. This only applies to the clinical template, not the assay data templates.

User stories:

I'm already bringing in several other REDCap clinical data models. How do I compare them with NF's experimental clinical data model, which has chosen/implemented https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/32725809/Neurology-2016-Hanemann-S40-8.pdf [^1], to better understand the translation or gaps between these standards?
How do I use NF's clinical data model as a questionnaire in my REDCap database? (DCA is not for collecting clinical data at the clinical trial site or point-of-care!)

To help with these, we should have a way to export the clinical component in REDCap .csv format. This serialization follows a specific structure (just as schematic .csv follows a certain structure). The investigator gets a .csv in the REDCap format with which they are familiar [^2]. If they want, they can also plan their clinical study to use the recommended questionnaire by loading in the recommended schema. Note: we need a REDCap instance to test out the loading.

Benefits:

That way, when clinical data is contributed back to NF, there is no translation needed because the recommended schema was used from the start.
The original paper made the clinical data collection recommendations but did not conveniently provide it as a reusable REDCap schema to make implementation easier for others (at least, it wasn't mentioned in the paper). By doing so and perhaps providing even more serializations that interoperate with clinical data collection tools later on, this can encourage penetration of schema in new projects.