Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD is a large and influential database of clinical practices from the United Kingdom (UK). CPRD GOLD has been used for decades in national and international medical research: its content and characteristics were published in 2015. However, in recent years there have been significant changes in this data source, with many new clinical practices joining from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and with most of the active clinical practices in England leaving. These changes and their effects have not been documented yet and researchers using CPRD GOLD need revised information to design and conduct their studies appropriately.
Without clear evidence, users of CPRD GOLD might design their studies incorrectly and misinterpret analyses results by using an out-of-date data resource profile as a reference. The lack of revised information might lead researchers to reach and publish the wrong conclusions, which could damage patients’ lives by affecting public health policies, clinical care, and drug safety monitoring.
This study aims to provide these missing up-to-date details and guidance on the content and usage of CPRD GOLD, overall and by UK constituent country. Additionally, it also aims to produce a manuscript that researchers can use as a reference for their current and future research. This project will benefit patients in the UK indirectly by filling the current knowledge gap about CPRD GOLD, and enabling researchers to conduct their studies properly and influencing health decision making correctly.
CPRD GOLD is a large, rich, and influential UK clinical practice database, which has been used for decades in national and international medical research. Its profile was published in 2015 and thousands of papers have been produced based on its data. However, in recent years there have been significant changes in this data source, with many new GP practices joining from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and with most of the active practices in England leaving to join CPRD Aurum. These changes, affecting size, population coverage, representativeness, and data linkages, have not been documented yet and researchers using CPRD GOLD need revised information to design and conduct their studies properly. They also need an up-to-date, citable manuscript of CPRD GOLD for current and future research.
This study aims to provide up-to-date details and guidance on the content and usage of CPRD GOLD overall and by UK constituent country. Additionally, it also aims to produce a manuscript that researchers can cite to support their current and future research.
We will report the number and proportion of historical and currently contributing patients by age, sex, ethnicity per each UK constituent country. We will also report the number of historical and currently contributing practices and their changes over time per each UK constituent country. For currently contributing practices we will report the index of multiple deprivation and urban/rural classification and use them as a proxy of their patients’ socioeconomic status. We will compare a range of health indicators of the current CPRD GOLD patients (i.e. asthma, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, stroke and smoking status) to national data per each UK constituent country.
Numbers and total years of follow-up of historical and current patients overall and per each UK constituent country, stratified by age, sex and ethnicity, will be reported. For current patients, also the socioeconomic status (measured by GP practice area level deprivation and urban/rural classification) will be investigated.
The number of current patients with a record of the following health indicators will be reported: asthma, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, stroke and smoking status.
Antonella Delmestri - Chief Investigator - University of Oxford
Antonella Delmestri - Corresponding Applicant - University of Oxford
Eleanor Axson - Collaborator - CPRD
Maria Sanchez - Collaborator - University of Oxford
Sonia Coton - Collaborator - CPRD
Practice Level Index of Multiple Deprivation;CPRD GOLD Ethnicity Record;Practice Level Rural-Urban Classification