Updated AACT Database Now Available on the CTTI Website, New Features Included

Posted on by Lorri Bingham

CTTI’s State of Clinical Trials Project set out to facilitate the analyses of data in ClinicalTrials.gov, by creating the database for Aggregate Analysis of ClincalTrials.gov (AACT), a restructured and reformatted relational database developed using publicly available and downloadable data from ClinicalTrials.gov. Since the original AACT was created in 2010, we’ve continued to regularly issue updated versions of the database.

The latest version of the AACT Database is now available on the CTTI website, along with the supporting documents. This dataset reflects data downloaded from ClinicalTrials.gov in September 2014. To assist users with interpretation of the data, high level and comprehensive data dictionaries and a points to consider document are also located on the CTTI website. Previous versions of AACT are available as well.

We are pleased to announce that new features to assist usability accompany the most recent AACT Database. Please see the Points to Consider Document for more details. These features include:

  • An additional “readme” document is included in the pipe-delimited text files zip file for users who plan to work with the data extracts in the R statistical computing environment.
  • A target duration (e.g. 180 Days) variable is now included for records where the STUDY_TYPE=”Observational [Patient Registry]”.
  • New “Delayed Results” data elements are included in the pipe-delimited text files and SAS CPORT transport files. This includes a list of studies, provided by the National Library of Medicine, that had submitted a certification or extension request to the 12-month results reporting requirement before September 27, 2014, and the date of the first certification or extension request. For further details, refer to the “readme” documents within the zip files.

Since CTTI released the first AACT database, it has been utilized to answer many questions regarding the landscape of clinical trials. For a list of peer-reviewed publications that have assessed the state of trials within medical specialties, CLICK HERE.