Vaccines are an effective means for preventing infectious diseases. However, many eligible individuals do not get vaccinated due to inequalities related to social factors. For some individuals these factors may be also associated with a higher disease-burden, making these people doubly disadvantaged. These social factors may differ in older and younger individuals. At present in England, information about social factors that affect vaccination and vaccine preventable infection burden is inadequate. This makes assessment of the problem and planning interventions for vaccine-related health inequalities difficult.
This study aims to assess the completeness and quality of recording of social factors in routinely collected anonymised healthcare data for both older individuals (aged ≥65 years) and children (aged ≤5 years). Some examples of social factors to be evaluated in this study include social deprivation, marital status, country of birth and care home residence. This work will help in the utilisation of routinely collected data to measure health inequalities, identifying vulnerable social groups for later studies of vaccine uptake and vaccine-preventable disease burden. The methods identified in this investigation could be potentially extended to other health outcomes in addition to vaccine uptake and disease burden.
Addressing inequalities in vaccine uptake to prevent infections in both children and adults is a key priority for public health. In England, current surveillance methods provide little information about social factors associated with the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases or vaccine uptake. These social factors may vary for older individuals and children. The aims of this study are to investigate if linked electronic health records (EHR) could contribute towards ascertainment of these social factors.
A detailed investigation of social factors that are potentially available for analyses for children (≤5 years) and older individuals (≥65 years) in linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data from England will be undertaken. Code lists for social factors of interest will compiled from the different data files. Each social factor will be examined for: completeness of data, timeliness of recording for factors that might change over time, representativeness of recorded data (by comparing these data with English census data) and the extent to which completeness is improved by using linked EHR.
This project will provide information about the utility of CPRD in ascertainment of social factors for vaccine-preventable disease burden and vaccine uptake analyses, to supplement/enhance existing surveillance methods and help to address vaccine-related health inequities.
Sara Thomas - Chief Investigator - Not from an Organisation
Anu Jain - Corresponding Applicant - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Albert J. van Hoek - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Jemma Walker - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Liam Smeeth - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
Rohini Mathur - Collaborator - London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ( LSHTM )
HES Admitted Patient Care;Patient Level Index of Multiple Deprivation;Practice Level Index of Multiple Deprivation