Assessing the feasibility of a web-based registry for multiple orphan lung diseases: The Australasian Registry Network for Orphan Lung Disease (ARNOLD) experience

Background: We investigated the feasibility of using an online registry to provide prevalence data for multiple orphan lung diseases in Australia and New Zealand. Methods: A web-based registry, The Australasian Registry Network of Orphan Lung Diseases (ARNOLD) was developed based on the existing British Paediatric Orphan Lung Disease Registry. All adult and paediatric respiratory physicians who were members of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand in Australia and New Zealand were sent regular emails between July 2009 and June 2014 requesting information on patients they had seen with any of 30 rare lung diseases. Prevalence rates were calculated using population statistics. Results: Emails were sent to 649 Australian respiratory physicians and 65 in New Zealand. 231 (32.4 %) physicians responded to emails a total of 1554 times (average 7.6 responses per physician). Prevalence rates of 30 rare lung diseases are reported. Conclusions: A multi-disease rare lung disease registry was implemented in the Australian and New Zealand health care settings that provided prevalence data on orphan lung diseases in this region but was limited by under reporting.