Projects
Use of the CHeReL's linkage services has increased steadily
since the unit was established in 2006. A list of completed projects and published
research is available.
Projects have been carried out for a broad range of purposes
using data from a variety of sources. Some of the research
applications of linked data have included:
- Follow-up of cohorts of people with rare conditions or outcomes
reported through population health datasets (eg. infective
endocarditis, childhood cancer)
- Morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases
(eg. Hepatitis C, influenza)
- Follow up of researcher-supplied cohorts to obtain information
on service utilisation or health-related outcomes (eg. 45 and Up
study, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health and the
HIV Observational Study Database)
- Case control studies of cancer screening behaviour and
outcomes
- Validation of the accuracy of screening tests by linkage with
outcome information (eg. antenatal serum screening and pregnancy
outcomes)
- Incidence of diseases and conditions by the identification of
first-time events (eg. first admissions for stroke and heart
failure)
- Reporting of outcomes of health care adjusted for co-morbidity
using historically linked data (eg. outcomes for stroke care in NSW
hospitals)
- Studies of health care safety, utilisation and costs (eg.
adverse events in hospital, cancer patterns of care)
- Validation studies of the accuracy of information held in
population health datasets
- Improved ascertainment of health information (eg.
Aboriginality, diagnoses) using multiple data sources
Other purposes include population health surveillance and health
system performance monitoring, where data linkage has enabled the
development and monitoring of new performance indicators and
strengthened the capacity of government to develop and evaluate
policies and track performance over time.
