Costs Associated with Using ASA24®

As part of its mission to advance measures and methods for monitoring cancer-related behaviors and other risk factors, the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Risk Factor Assessment Branch provides tools and resources to the extramural research community. Consistent with that, the Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour (ASA24) Dietary Assessment Tool is available for use free of charge to researchers, clinicians, and teachers.

Costs to consider when planning a study that uses ASA24 include system and labor costs associated with uploading study details, including respondent usernames and recall dates. Costs also are associated with contacting and monitoring respondents, assessing data quality, and analyzing data. The labor and resources needed by researchers and associated costs to configure and manage studies using the ASA24 system are within the purview and the responsibility of users.

Configuring and Managing Studies

Labor and other resources needed to configure and manage studies using ASA24 are the responsibility of researchers. Researchers should consider the following tasks when determining their costs and efforts associated with using ASA24:

• Configuration of study details and set up of Respondent accounts
• Contacting Respondents and monitoring their activity
• Assessing data quality and editing data as needed
• Researcher or study-specific tasks
• Researcher or study-specific ASA24 customizations

Single Sign-On Costs for ASA24

If you have a study system which uses single user names and passwords to collect data electronically, and you would like to use ASA24 as part of that system, a single sign on system by which Respondents can be redirected from your study Website to ASA24 can be set up at nominal charge. This allows study participants to complete recalls or records without having to log in directly to ASA24. When Respondents complete their recalls or records and exit ASA24, they are redirected back to the study Website and a completion status is returned. In this situation, the Researcher registers the study, manages study logistics, and accesses analytic output files by way of the Researcher Website as they would with any ASA24 study.

Country-Specific Adaptations of ASA24

Country-specific versions have been created to accommodate use in Canada and Australia.  In both instances, researchers or other staff in each country have obtained outside funding. These versions make use the ASA24 infrastructure, saving significant funds compared to developing a comparable tool from scratch. There are multiple potential options for how such work might be accomplished depending on each country or study population.

If interested in learning more about single sign-on costs or country-specific adaptations, please contact the ASA24 Helpdesk.

ASA24 is a registered trademark of HHS.