Learning from disease registries during a pandemic: Moving toward an international federation of patient registries.

High-quality dermatology patient registries often require considerable time to develop and produce meaningful data. Development time is influenced by registry complexity and regulatory hurdles that vary significantly nationally and institutionally. The rapid emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic has challenged health services in an unprecedented manner. Mobilization of the dermatology community in response has included rapid development and deployment of multiple, partially harmonized, international patient registries, reinventing established patient registry timelines. Partnership with patient organizations has demonstrated the critical nature of inclusive patient involvement. This global effort has demonstrated the value, capacity, and necessity for the dermatology community to adopt a more cohesive approach to patient registry development and data sharing that can lead to myriad benefits. These include improved utilization of limited resources, increased data interoperability, improved ability to rapidly collect meaningful data, and shortened response times to generate real-world evidence. We call on the global dermatology community to support the development of an international federation of patient registries to consolidate and operationalize the lessons learned during this pandemic. This will provide an enduring means of applying this knowledge to the maintenance and development of sustainable, coherent, and impactful patient registries of benefit now and in the future.

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Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflict of interest C.F. is Chief Investigator of the UK-Irish Atopic eczema Systemic TherApy Register (A-STAR). C.F., A.I., and P.S. co-lead the SECURE-AD register, which studies the impact of COVID-19 infection episodes on atopic dermatitis. D.W. and R.S. co-lead and are members of the Steering Committee, along with L.B., N.M., D.J.T., and K.Y., of the SECURE-Alopecia registry, which studies the impact of COVID-19 infection on patients with all forms of hair loss. R.S., D.W., N.M., K.Y., and L.B. are leading the development of Global Registry of Alopecia areata disease Severity and treatment Safety (GRASS). C.F., P.S., and C.A. are members of the international TREatment of Atopic eczema Taskforce (TREAT) Executive Committee. C.E.M.G. is Chief Investigator of the British Association of Dermatologists Biologics and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR) and an Executive Member of the PsoProtect and Psoprotectme Registries. C.H.S. is Research Chair of BADBIR, and joint Principle Investigator (PI) of PsoProtect and PsoProtectMe Registries. S.K.M. is joint Principle Investigator of PsoProtect and PsoProtectMe Registries. I.L.C. is part of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance COVID-19 Response Task Force, a collaboration between the Society for Pediatric Dermatology (SPD) and the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA). B.W.M.A. is a patient representative for the SECURE-AD patient register, and the Dutch TREAT NL and BioDAY registers. P.S. is member of the PsoProtect International Scientific Advisory Board. H.B.N is a board member of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Foundation. R.A., J.R.I., and H.B.N. are members of the Steering Committee of the Global Hidradenitis Suppurativa COVID-19 Registry.