> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://pic-sure.gitbook.io/nhlbi-biodata-catalyst-powered-by-pic-sure/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://pic-sure.gitbook.io/nhlbi-biodata-catalyst-powered-by-pic-sure/data-in-pic-sure/data-organization-in-bdc-pic-sure.md).

# Data Organization in BDC-PIC-SURE

*BDC-PIC-SURE* integrates clinical and genomic datasets across *BDC*, including TOPMed and TOPMed related studies, COVID-19 studies, and BioLINCC studies. **Each variable is organized as a concept path that contains information about the study, variable group, and variable.** Though the specifics of the concept paths are dependent on the type of study, the overall information included in the same.

For more information about additional dbGaP, TOPMed, and PIC-SURE concept paths, refer to [Appendix 1](/nhlbi-biodata-catalyst-powered-by-pic-sure/appendix/appendix-1-bdc-identifiers-dbgap-topmed-and-pic-sure.md).

### Table of Data Fields in *BDC-PIC-SURE*

| Data Organization                                             | TOPMed & TOPMed-Related Studies                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | Studies where the variables are not indexed by dbGaP                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| General organization                                          | <p>Data organized using the format implemented by the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gap/">database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP)</a>. Find more information on the dbGaP datastructure <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031016/">here</a>. <br><br>Generally, a given study will have several tables, and those tables will have several variables. </p> | <p>Data do not follow dbGaP format; there are no phv or pht accessions.<br><br>Data are organized in groups of like variables, when available. For example, variables like <em>Age, Gender,</em> and <em>Race</em> could be part of the <em>Demographics</em> variable group.</p> |
| Concept path structure (flexible concept path strucutre)      | **\phs\pht\phv\variable name\\**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | **\phs\variable name or \phs\form name\variable or \phs\form group\form name\variable group\variable**                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Variable ID                                                   | **phv** corresponding to the variable accession number                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | Equivalent to variable name                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Variable name                                                 | Encoded variable name that was used by the original submitters of the data                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | Encoded variable name that was used by the original submitters of the data                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Variable description                                          | Description of the variable                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | Description of the variable, as available                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Dataset ID                                                    | **pht** corresponding to the trait table accession number                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Equivalent to dataset name                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| Dataset name / Form Group / Variable Group                    | Name of the trait table                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | Name of a group of like variables, as available                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| Dataset description / Form description / Variable description | Description of the trait table                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | Description of a group of variables, as available                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Study ID                                                      | **phs** corresponding to the study accession number                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | **phs** corresponding to the study accession number                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Study description                                             | Description of the study from dbGaP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | Description of the study from dbGaP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |

Note that there are two data types in PIC-SURE: categorical and continuous data. Categorical variables refer to any variables that have categorized values. For example, “Have you ever had asthma?” with values “Yes” and “No” is a categorical variable. Continuous variables refer to any variables that have a numeric range of values. For example, “Age” with a value range from 10 to 90 is a continuous variable. The internal PIC-SURE data load process determines the type of each variable based on the data.