Readable research linked to original sources
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Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
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Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
Loading articles data…
Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
18 articles
Newest firstClinical codes are unique identifiers used in electronic health records to document specific information, such as diagnoses, procedures or medications. Because of their structured and systematic nature, they are often used for research, audit and service evaluation. Knowing how frequently certain codes are recorded can be invaluable in planning such work. For example, not all events are recorded with equal frequen…
Open article record in new tab ↗ObjectivesTo evaluate temporal changes in the incidence and prevalence of 19 long-term conditions in England, quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diagnosis rates by disease, age group, sex, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. DesignObservational cohort study. SettingPrimary care and hospital admission data, with the approval of NHS England. Participants27,132,190 individuals registered with general…
Open article record in new tab ↗ObjectivesWe aimed to estimate how rheumatology healthcare use has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and determine demographic characteristics associated with observed changes in healthcare use. MethodsUsing three primary and secondary care electronic health record datasets in England (with the approval of NHS England), Scotland, and Wales, we identified individuals with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundPain is a significant burden on individuals, healthcare systems, and society. Analgesic drugs carry many therapeutic benefits; however, all drugs are associated with adverse effects and risk of harm. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids have been identified as particularly high-risk due to the risk of side effects and/or dependency. This study aims to examine how patterns of analges…
Open article record in new tab ↗ObjectivesTo examine the impact of the pandemic on deprivation-related inequalities in hospitalisations for CVD conditions in Denmark and England between March 2018 and December 2021. DesignA series of monthly cross-sectional studies separately in England and Denmark. Setting: With the approval of NHS England, we used English primary care electronic health records, linked to secondary care and death registry data…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare delivery, including difficulty accessing in-person care, which may have increased the need for strong pharmacological pain relief. MethodsWith NHS England approval, we used routine clinical data from >20 million general practice adult patients in OpenSAFELY-TPP. Using interrupted time series analysis, we quantified prevalent and new opioid prescribing prior to t…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundNHS England issued commissioning guidance on 18 low-priority treatments which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care. We aimed to monitor the impact of an educational intervention delivered to regional prescribing advisors by senior pharmacists from NHS England on the primary care spend on low-priority items. MethodsAn opportunistic randomised, controlled parallel-group trial. Participants (c…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundHealthcare across all sectors, in the UK and globally, was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We analysed healthcare services delivered to people with pancreatic cancer from January 2015 to March 2023 to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsWith the approval of NHS England, and drawing from a nationally representative OpenSAFELY-TPP dataset of 24 million patients (over 40% o…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented pressure on healthcare services. This study aimed to investigate if disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) safety monitoring was affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsA population-based cohort study was conducted with the approval of NHS England, using the OpenSAFELY platform to access electronic health record data from 24{middle dot}2 million pa…
BackgroundTrends of opioid prescribing in the NHS has been well published, yet trends for the same in private prescribing have not been widely established. AimTo assess trends and geographical variation of controlled opioids prescribed by private prescribers in England. Design and settingA retrospective observational study in English primary healthcare. MethodsData on Schedule 2 and 3 controlled opioids ("controll…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare and may have impacted ethnic inequalities in healthcare. We aimed to describe the impact of pandemic-related disruption on ethnic differences in clinical monitoring and hospital admissions for non-COVID conditions in England. MethodsWe conducted a cohort study using OpenSAFELY (2018-2022). We grouped ethnicity (exposure), into five categories: White, South Asian…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and associated national lockdowns created unprecedented disruption to healthcare, with reduced access to services and planned clinical encounters postponed or cancelled. It was widely anticipated that failure to obtain timely treatment would cause progression of illness and increased hospital admissions. Additional concerns were that social and spatial inequalities would widen given…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundApproaches to addressing unwarranted variation in healthcare service delivery have traditionally relied on the prospective identification of activities and outcomes, based on a hypothesis, with subsequent reporting against defined measures. Practice-level prescribing data in England are made publicly available by the NHS Business Services Authority for all general practices. There is an opportunity to ad…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare activity across a broad range of clinical services. The NHS stopped non-urgent work in March 2020, later recommending services be restored to near-normal levels before winter where possible. AimsUsing routinely collected data, our aim was to describe changes in the volume and variation of coded clinical activity in general practice in: (i) cardiovascular dis…
Open article record in new tab ↗ObjectivesTo compare the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech) and the ChAdOx1 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) COVID-19 vaccines against infection and COVID-19 disease in health and social care workers. DesignCohort study, emulating a comparative effectiveness trial. SettingLinked primary care, hospital, and COVID-19 surveillance records available within the OpenSAFELY-TPP research platform. Participants317,34…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThere is concern about medium to long-term adverse outcomes following acute COVID-19, but little relevant evidence exists. We aimed to investigate whether risks of hospital admission and death, overall and by specific cause, are raised following discharge from a COVID-19 hospitalisation. Methods and FindingsWorking on behalf of NHS-England, we used linked primary care and hospital data in OpenSAFELY to c…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted healthcare activity globally. The NHS in England stopped most non-urgent work by March 2020, but later recommended that services should be restored to near-normal levels before winter where possible. The authors are developing the OpenSAFELY NHS Service Restoration Observatory, using data to describe changes in service activity during COVID-19, and reviewing signals fo…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundClose contact with children may provide cross-reactive immunity to SARs-CoV-2 due to more frequent prior coryzal infections from seasonal coronaviruses. Alternatively, close contact with children may increase risk of SARs-CoV-2 infection. We investigated whether risk of infection with SARs-CoV-2 and severe outcomes differed between adults living with and without children. MethodsWorking on behalf of NHS…
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