Final published version
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding and responding to COVID-19 in Wales
T2 - protocol for a privacy-protecting data platform for enhanced epidemiology and evaluation of interventions
AU - Lyons, J.
AU - Akbari, A.
AU - Torabi, F.
AU - Davies, G.I.
AU - North, L.
AU - Griffiths, R.
AU - Bailey, R.
AU - Hollinghurst, J.
AU - Fry, R.
AU - Turner, S.L.
AU - Thompson, D.
AU - Rafferty, J.
AU - Mizen, A.
AU - Orton, C.
AU - Thompson, S.
AU - Au-Yeung, L.
AU - Cross, L.
AU - Gravenor, M.B.
AU - Brophy, S.
AU - Lucini, B.
AU - John, A.
AU - Szakmany, T.
AU - Davies, J.
AU - Davies, C.
AU - Thomas, D.R.
AU - Williams, C.
AU - Emmerson, C.
AU - Cottrell, S.
AU - Connor, T.R.
AU - Taylor, C.
AU - Pugh, R.J.
AU - Diggle, P.
AU - John, G.
AU - Scourfield, S.
AU - Hunt, J.
AU - Cunningham, A.M.
AU - Helliwell, K.
AU - Lyons, R.
PY - 2020/10/21
Y1 - 2020/10/21
N2 - INTRODUCTION: The emergence of the novel respiratory SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic have required rapid assimilation of population-level data to understand and control the spread of infection in the general and vulnerable populations. Rapid analyses are needed to inform policy development and target interventions to at-risk groups to prevent serious health outcomes. We aim to provide an accessible research platform to determine demographic, socioeconomic and clinical risk factors for infection, morbidity and mortality of COVID-19, to measure the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare utilisation and long-term health, and to enable the evaluation of natural experiments of policy interventions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Two privacy-protecting population-level cohorts have been created and derived from multisourced demographic and healthcare data. The C20 cohort consists of 3.2 million people in Wales on the 1 January 2020 with follow-up until 31 May 2020. The complete cohort dataset will be updated monthly with some individual datasets available daily. The C16 cohort consists of 3 million people in Wales on the 1 January 2016 with follow-up to 31 December 2019. C16 is designed as a counterfactual cohort to provide contextual comparative population data on disease, health service utilisation and mortality. Study outcomes will: (a) characterise the epidemiology of COVID-19, (b) assess socioeconomic and demographic influences on infection and outcomes, (c) measure the impact of COVID-19 on short -term and longer-term population outcomes and (d) undertake studies on the transmission and spatial spread of infection. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage-independent Information Governance Review Panel has approved this study. The study findings will be presented to policy groups, public meetings, national and international conferences, and published in peer-reviewed journals.
AB - INTRODUCTION: The emergence of the novel respiratory SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic have required rapid assimilation of population-level data to understand and control the spread of infection in the general and vulnerable populations. Rapid analyses are needed to inform policy development and target interventions to at-risk groups to prevent serious health outcomes. We aim to provide an accessible research platform to determine demographic, socioeconomic and clinical risk factors for infection, morbidity and mortality of COVID-19, to measure the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare utilisation and long-term health, and to enable the evaluation of natural experiments of policy interventions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Two privacy-protecting population-level cohorts have been created and derived from multisourced demographic and healthcare data. The C20 cohort consists of 3.2 million people in Wales on the 1 January 2020 with follow-up until 31 May 2020. The complete cohort dataset will be updated monthly with some individual datasets available daily. The C16 cohort consists of 3 million people in Wales on the 1 January 2016 with follow-up to 31 December 2019. C16 is designed as a counterfactual cohort to provide contextual comparative population data on disease, health service utilisation and mortality. Study outcomes will: (a) characterise the epidemiology of COVID-19, (b) assess socioeconomic and demographic influences on infection and outcomes, (c) measure the impact of COVID-19 on short -term and longer-term population outcomes and (d) undertake studies on the transmission and spatial spread of infection. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Secure Anonymised Information Linkage-independent Information Governance Review Panel has approved this study. The study findings will be presented to policy groups, public meetings, national and international conferences, and published in peer-reviewed journals.
KW - COVID-19
KW - epidemiology
KW - health informatics
KW - public health
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043010
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043010
M3 - Journal article
VL - 10
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
SN - 2044-6055
IS - 10
M1 - e043010
ER -