HI Tewelde,
choosing between REDCap and CommCare will depend very much on the type of
apps you require in your project. Both REDCap and Commcare are useful data
collection kits, that support mobile functionality and offline usage.
REDCap is developed by Vandebijlt University to support research
methodology and data collection. Like CommCare it allows you to design
survey instruments (including longitudinal survey instruments) with
multiple question types. I'll try to highlight the differences between
REDCap and CommCare by discussing groups of features.
Pricing;
REDCap is open source and free to download for individual or institutional
hosting. There are no package prices for users, but you will need to
invest in a team and equipment to host the software on a server, run the
platform updates, administrate the platform and build custom plugins for
features that aren't naturally available on the software (this they make
fairly easy and provide guides on how to build custom plugins for extra
functionality - all you need is a fair knowledge of PHP)
Platforms;
REDCap has both a web application that can be used on desktops and laptops
and mobile applications for both android and iOS devices. Note that some
question types may not work on the mobile platforms (for example the
dropdown list with medical nomenclature)
Question Types;
REDCap does not support GPS capture yet. They do however have a file
upload feature which allows you to upload documents and images.
Additionally they allow searchable drop down list that allow you to choose
more than one option. they have built in databases to add searchable drop
down lists for medical nomenclature (the medical databases they have are
ICD 10, SnowMedCT, MEDRA, HL7). You are able to carry out calculations
with questions and display conditions, however the complexity of
calculations and display conditions are limited, ie., you are mostly able
to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, date difference
and if functions, but other functions like count, coalesce, concat are not
available. REDCap can only separate groups of questions by applying
section headers and cannot perform repeat groups like Commcare. For
surveys that use Lickert scales, REDCap has a nice functionality called
matrix questions that allow you to do this.
Exports;
REDCap has strong export functions - allowing you to create custom exports
of your surveys and data collection instruments. additionally you can
apply filters to to questions in the survey before exporting to excel.
REDCap allows export to excel, in CSV, xml and also directly into
statistical packages such as SPSS, SASS, STATA, and R statistical programs.
Excel exports can be exported using the raw data or the question labels.
Like CommCare it allows you to de-identify fields, but cannot allow you to
add meta tags into the exports like CommCare (cannot track device IMEI no,
data capturer - this can be viewed on the project system however).
REDCap does not have a "reports' feature like CommCare does to track the
activity of your mobile users - this is quite limited in REDCap. But does
allow you to create types of users and assign rights and permissions to
functions on the app and forms on the app (thus you can have a user group
that is only able to accees the registration form, but none of the other
forms).
Case management:
REDCap is not able to create child and grandchild cases.
Application building;
REDCap does hve a feature for you to run data quality checks (see if all
forms and surveys have been completed correctly, but is not quite as
intuitive as Commcare in picking up build errors.
REDCap's application building works a little differently from CommCare in
that you have two stages; Development and production. While in development
you are able to make as many changes to the application as you want (it is
recommended that no actual data collection is done in development mode).
Once happy with your application , it can be moved to production, where
you are given the option to erase test data entered in development mode.
Once in production, if you would like to make changes to the question
types of the form you will need the system administrator to approve changes
- this is to make sure the data already collected in the project may not be
significantly affected.
Like CommCare you are able to generate a data dictionary of your
application (Application summary) and also create an application using a
excel import function.
Data Collection;
REDCap allows you to send out surveys to users outside of the app via a
link. You are also able to schedule forms and surveys to be completed at
specific times.
Overall;
REDCap was built with research data collection in mind whereas CommCare is
quite well adapted for community health outreach type of projects. I would
recommend looking at the functionality you need and whether REDCap of
Commcare is more suited. if your application require many calculated
fields and conditions and workflows, Commcare is better suited.
Hope this was useful.
Feel free to skype me (ameera.hamid) if you have any other questions about
REDCap
Kindly,
Ameera
REDCap is open source and allows you to build plugins (if you have a fair
knowledge of PHP) for additional funtionalities.
···
On Tuesday, 13 June 2017 14:08:17 UTC+2, teweldino.mvp wrote:
>
> Dear all
>
> I am just wondering what the difference b/n commcare and redcap is? Does
> redcap support all commcare functionalies? I know commcare very well but
> not redcap and my staff are pushing me to use redcap?
>
> Your advice is highly appreciated.
>
> Best,
>
> --
>
> Tewelde Aregawi
>
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