Repeating Instrument and Event Training Video by Vanderbilt University
Repeating Instruments (for classic and longitudinal projects)
Classic projects (i.e., in which the longitudinal module is not enabled) can utilize repeating instruments as a very simple way of doing longitudinal data collection. When traditionally using the longitudinal module in a project, one downside is that one must specify all the events (i.e., the repetitions of instruments) ahead of time, making sure to build out the maximum number of events that one might need, even though all of them likely won’t be used by all records. However, with the repeating instruments functionality, one does not need to specify how many repetitions will needed ahead of time; one can simply repeat an instrument an unlimited amount of times. It is important to note that multiple instruments in a project can be enabled as repeating instruments (even all of them, if one wishes). Projects utilizing the longitudinal module can have repeating instruments as well, in which one or more instruments on any defined event can be set to repeat within that event. The repeating instruments functionality behaves very much the same way in both classic and longitudinal projects.
Repeating Events (for longitudinal projects only)
If a project has the longitudinal module enabled, it can utilize the repeating events feature, which works somewhat differently than the repeating instruments feature. While the repeating instruments feature allows one to repeat a given instrument as a single unit, the repeating events feature allows one to repeat an entire event of instruments together in unison. This might be useful if one has several instruments whose data correlates together, such as completing multiple surveys back to back for a specific time-point or visit, for example. Previously, one may have had to create X number of identical events to capture repeating data for the instruments on those events (e.g., Week 1, Week 2, …), but the repeating events feature makes this much simpler by allowing one to create only one single event that can be repeated in unlimited fashion.
Enabling Surveys for Repeating Instruments
If one wishes to allow survey respondents to enter their responses in a repeating fashion in survey mode alone, you can enable the ‘Repeat the Survey‘ optional setting near the bottom of the Survey Settings page (in the survey termination options section) *after* an instrument has been set as a repeating instrument. So it is one additional step to do after enabling the instrument itself as a repeating instrument. When the repeat survey setting is enabled, a button will be displayed at the end of the survey so that the respondent can choose to enter another response for the survey, thus allowing them to take the survey multiple times in a row. In this way, they will be able to enter as many responses for that same survey as they need, such as filling out questions about multiple family members or entering medication information for multiple meds. Alternatively, Automated Survey Invitations (ASIs) and Alerts & Notifications may be set up to sent repeatedly on a recurring interval as a way to get respondents to take a repeating survey.
Reports and Data Exports with Repeating Instruments and Events
If one creates a report that contains data from a repeating instrument or repeating event, a field named ‘redcap_repeat_instance’ will be included that represents the instance number, which is an auto-numbered value (starting with ‘1’) that gets incremented each time the instrument/event is repeated. And if the report contains data specifically from a repeating instrument (as opposed to a repeating event), then a field named ‘redcap_repeat_instrument’ will additionally be included that represents the instrument name that denotes to which instrument the row of data belongs. These two fields will only be included automatically in the report or data export if data originates from a repeating instrument or event. Note: Each repeated instance of an instrument or event will be displayed as a new row in the report or export file. This means that if a medications survey is repeated three times for one record, for example, it will be displayed as three rows in the report.
Enabling Repeating Instruments
Within ‘Project Setup’ tab, under ‘Enable optional modules and customizations’ click the ‘Enable’ button for Repeating instruments.
A new dialog window will open up with the instrument list. Check off any instruments that you would like to turn repeating on. Then click ‘Save’ to finish setting repeating for those instruments.
