AFHSC databases were queried to determine the number of serum specimens placed into storage each year as well as the ages of service members at the time of specimen collection. At no time during this project did we seek to obtain personal health data or individually identifiable information. Serum specimens were not accessed.
Algorithmic search method: we initially attempted to identify DoDSR-related publications using a relatively restricted search of the PubMed online database (National Center for Biotechnological Information,http://www.pubmed.org ). The text strings “DoDSR,” “DoD serum repository,” “military (or defense) stored (or frozen or banked) serum,” “military (or defense) seroepidemiology,” “military (or defense) seroprevalence,” and “military (or defense) serosurvey” (in English) resulted in 383 unique citations. Forty-eight (48) met the screening criteria—a study conducted by or for the US military using a retrospective serological study design—and were read in full. Reading two of the articles was insufficient to determine that the research used serum from the repository, so the primary authors were contacted; neither of those studies used DoDSR specimens. From our first search method, we identified 25 publications to include in this review.
Intense search method: to ensure that we found as many publications as possible, we obtained digital records of studies from AFHSC’s databases that were supported between 1996 and 2012. For earlier years, only archived paper and email records now exist, and those could not be systematically searched at the time of our review. It should be noted that the current DoDSR inventory management database contains records for all of the specimens collected since 1985. According to the available records, there were 140 serum requests that had been granted (i.e. specimens were removed from the repository and sent to the investigator) between 1996 and 2012. For each request, we used the name of the investigator (or co-investigators if any were available), the date that serum specimens were retrieved and the health condition(s) that the investigators said they were researching to search PubMed (again), the DoD’s online Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC;http://www.dtic.mil ) and Google (http://www.google.com ). We searched those sources exhaustively and ultimately discovered another 51 articles that used DoDSR specimens. We did not systematically contact investigators who had received serum specimens to determine whether their study had been (or was expected to be) published. This was due to the high mobility of service members and difficulty in contacting individuals years later and because there was no requirement for investigators to notify the AFHSC of publications until 2013. We stopped searching for publications in April 2013 because of limitations in available resource, and included only those that were published through March 2013. There were three studies identified using the algorithmic search method that were not found using the intense search method because AFHSC records prior to October 1996 (the date that the current database was started) were not available.
Seventy-six publications were reviewed to determine the analyte(s) and health condition(s) that were the subject of investigation. No attempt was made at meta-analysis or other statistical observations. We included publications in this review without a priori or post hoc judgments regarding study design, strength of the conclusions, citation indices or journal source. A number of poster presentations and conference abstracts (independent of a related publication) were discovered, but those were not included primarily because full details about the study design, methods and results would not necessarily be available to the average scientific reader. This review was limited to studies that required serum to be taken from the DoDSR after freezing and did not include any publications that resulted from laboratory testing before banking. We did not consider the method by which articles were discovered (by us) as an important factor in our attempt to understand the historical (and potential future) utility of the DoDSR.
Algorithmic search method: we initially attempted to identify DoDSR-related publications using a relatively restricted search of the PubMed online database (National Center for Biotechnological Information,
Intense search method: to ensure that we found as many publications as possible, we obtained digital records of studies from AFHSC’s databases that were supported between 1996 and 2012. For earlier years, only archived paper and email records now exist, and those could not be systematically searched at the time of our review. It should be noted that the current DoDSR inventory management database contains records for all of the specimens collected since 1985. According to the available records, there were 140 serum requests that had been granted (i.e. specimens were removed from the repository and sent to the investigator) between 1996 and 2012. For each request, we used the name of the investigator (or co-investigators if any were available), the date that serum specimens were retrieved and the health condition(s) that the investigators said they were researching to search PubMed (again), the DoD’s online Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC;
Seventy-six publications were reviewed to determine the analyte(s) and health condition(s) that were the subject of investigation. No attempt was made at meta-analysis or other statistical observations. We included publications in this review without a priori or post hoc judgments regarding study design, strength of the conclusions, citation indices or journal source. A number of poster presentations and conference abstracts (independent of a related publication) were discovered, but those were not included primarily because full details about the study design, methods and results would not necessarily be available to the average scientific reader. This review was limited to studies that required serum to be taken from the DoDSR after freezing and did not include any publications that resulted from laboratory testing before banking. We did not consider the method by which articles were discovered (by us) as an important factor in our attempt to understand the historical (and potential future) utility of the DoDSR.