A World Wide Web-based user interface for a data management system for use in multi-institutional clinical trials--development and experimental operation of an automated patient registration and random allocation system.

We have employed the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) to develop an automated patient registration and random allocation system for use in a multi-institutional clinical trial. We made it available on-line to World Wide Web clients in each hospital through a user friendly graphical user interface. During experimental operation, the physicians found it satisfactory from the viewpoint of both ease of operation and response time. For the development of a graphical user interface in network-based information system for use in multi-institutional clinical trials, HTTP/HTML has several advantages over an ordinary client-server model. Therefore, we concluded that we would adopt HTP/HTML for the construction of user interfaces for physicians in each spital and for data managers in our coordinating center.