CTGOV2 query for location returning incorrect number of studies

[machado-t]

CTGOV2 query for location returning incorrect number of studies

[rfhb]

"Location" is a complex lookup system in the webinterface of CTGOV2. For example, it maps user entries to combinations of facility name, city, state, country. The translation by ctrdata of a search URL to an API call for this register may not readily work for all cases. An update will be provided to cover more use cases.

[rfhb]

Implemented with further user information. Closed with 3b90892.

# example showing that an error will be raised when a user's search
# in CTGOV2 does not have have relevant details for an API query:

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Gustave%20Roussy,%20Rue%20Edouard%20Vaillant,%20Villejuif,%20France&lat=48.7955043&lng=2.3485255&distance=50"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = F, only.count = TRUE)
# Error: Parameter 'locStr' provided, but no 'country', 'state' or 'city'; 
# please check in CTGOV; e.g., the name of a trial site should go into 
# Facility Name in the webinterface or parameter 'locn' in the search URL.

# series of examples showing correct translation:

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Portugal&country=Portugal"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 3203

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?country=Portugal"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 3203

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Lissabon,%20Portugal&country=Portugal&state=Lisbon&city=Lisbon"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 497

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?country=Portugal&state=Lisbon&city=Lisbon"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 497

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?country=Portugal&city=Lisbon"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 497

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?country=Portugal&state=Lisbon"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 21 noting there is no such state

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Bavaria,%20Germany&country=Germany&state=Bavaria"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 911 but CTGOV2 webinterface erroneously shows 25632 trials for all of the country

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Maine&country=United%20States&state=Maine"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 2273

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Paris,%20France&country=France&state=%C3%8Ele-de-France&city=Paris"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# only 104 returned by API but CTGOV2 webinterface shows 12647 trials 
# for the same parameters, indicating that state is not useful here with API

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locStr=Paris,%20France&country=France&city=Paris"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 12654

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locn=Charité Campus Virchow Klinikum"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 207

q <- "https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?locn=Gustave%20Roussy"
ctrLoadQueryIntoDb(queryterm = q, verbose = TRUE, only.count = TRUE)
# 1643

[machado-t]

Great work!