Health data collected in the real world offer a hugely valuable resource to improve our understanding of diseases and treatments, with the ability to monitor trends and changes in near real-time. At Usher, we use routinely collected large-scale data, making research more efficient and effective. Image Snapshot: Tracking COVID across Scotland to inform policy The EAVE II team, led by Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh, successfully tracked the COVID-19 pandemic in near real-time, as well as the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, across Scotland – providing important information to inform policy decisions. They have done this using a rich dataset of all 5.4 million people registered with a GP in Scotland, around 98% of the Scottish population. This team, collaborating between universities and Public Health Scotland, has generated impactful findings that have been central to the Scottish and UK governments’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. EAVE II website Image Snapshot: Linking data to give greater insights Researchers from the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research found that the number of admissions to paediatric intensive care units, invasive ventilation and deaths due to asthma were all higher in the most deprived areas of England. Linking routinely collected data from paediatric intensive care units in England with the National Statistics Postcode Directory, which has information on the English Index of Multiple Deprivation, the investigators were able to identify the socio-economic status of those admitted because of their asthma, or who had died. Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research website This article was published on 2024-09-24
