1. Understanding and responding to COVID-19 in Wales:protocol for a privacy-protecting data platform for enhanced epidemiology and evaluation of interventions
- Author
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Lyons, J., Akbari, A., Torabi, F., Davies, G.I., North, L., Griffiths, R., Bailey, R., Hollinghurst, J., Fry, R., Turner, S.L., Thompson, D., Rafferty, J., Mizen, A., Orton, C., Thompson, S., Au-Yeung, L., Cross, L., Gravenor, M.B., Brophy, S., Lucini, B., John, A., Szakmany, T., Davies, J., Davies, C., Thomas, D.R., Williams, C., Emmerson, C., Cottrell, S., Connor, T.R., Taylor, C., Pugh, R.J., Diggle, P., John, G., Scourfield, S., Hunt, J., Cunningham, A.M., Helliwell, K., Lyons, R., Lyons, J., Akbari, A., Torabi, F., Davies, G.I., North, L., Griffiths, R., Bailey, R., Hollinghurst, J., Fry, R., Turner, S.L., Thompson, D., Rafferty, J., Mizen, A., Orton, C., Thompson, S., Au-Yeung, L., Cross, L., Gravenor, M.B., Brophy, S., Lucini, B., John, A., Szakmany, T., Davies, J., Davies, C., Thomas, D.R., Williams, C., Emmerson, C., Cottrell, S., Connor, T.R., Taylor, C., Pugh, R.J., Diggle, P., John, G., Scourfield, S., Hunt, J., Cunningham, A.M., Helliwell, K., and Lyons, R.
- Abstract
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.
- Published
- 2020