Development and usability testing of a data visualisation platform for an African trauma data registry

Trauma is a significant contribution to the global burden of mortality, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The methods for tracking, recording, and analysing the incidence and causes of trauma are underdeveloped. To address this, The African Federation for Emergency Medicine (AFEM) developed a trauma data registy to collect data in multiple sites in sub-Saharan Africa. To address the lack of analysis and publishing of trauma data, we created a web-based trauma data visualisation platform for use with the AFEM trauma registry data. This study involves a usability assessment of the AFEM Trauma Data Visualisation Platform to determine the specific website features and analytical needs of African trauma researchers. This will be done by surveying the individuals from healthcare facilities that are currently using the AFEM Trauma Data Form. Questionnaires will be administered to gather information on the study population and their expectations for the platform and to assess the usability of the platform after it is introduced. The results of this study will include qualitative information on the participants’ experiences and preferences for a data analysis platform and a quantitative evaluation of the AFEM Trauma Data Platform. Findings of these surveys will be incorporated into the tailoring of the platform’s design and function for African Healthcare providers. The results of this study may also be useful in the development of other technology-based tools for African Healthcare practitioners. Overall, this usability study will garner information on the specifications of a data analysis platform tailored for African healthcare professionals.