The terms “domain” and “dataset” are commonly used in CDISC’s nomenclature and found frequently in the Study Data Tabulation Model (SDTM). For example, the SDTM v1.8 includes 134 instances of "domain" and says "A collection of observations on a particular topic is considered a domain." The model includes 78 instances of dataset and certain structures in the model are called "datasets" rather than "domains." Is there a difference between a domain and a dataset?
There is a lot of interest in the clinical trial community to understand what information can be obtained from Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to support clinical trials. The use of FHIR has been endorsed by the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and is widely being used by EHR vendors.
When development of the SDTM and SDTMIG started, SAS was in almost universal use in the pharmaceutical industry and at FDA.
ADaM datasets include names that start with "AD", therefore "AD" must not be used as the name of a custom SDTM domain. Analysis datasets that are not based on ADaM may have names that start with "AX", so "AX" must not be used as the name of a custom SDTM domain. The SDTM Domain Abbreviations codelist includes "AD" and "AX" as a reminder that these domain abbreviations must not be used for SDTM custom domains.
SNOMED (short for SNOMED Clinical Terms or SNOMED CT) is a set of medical terms used widely in clinical practice. Some have asked why CDISC develops its own Controlled Terminology, rather than using SNOMED. There are a number of reasons why we develop terminology: