Thorax 1999;54:413-419 ( May )

Use of the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) for respiratory epidemiology: a comparison with the 4th Morbidity Survey in General Practice (MSGP4)

Anna Hansell,^a Jen Hollowell,^b Tom Nichols,^a Rosie McNiece,^b David Strachan^a

^a Department of Public Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK, ^b General Practice Research Database, Office for National Statistics, Room B6/04, 1 Drummond Gate, London SW1V 2QQ, UK

Correspondence to: Dr A Hansell.

Received 7 September 1998; Returned to authors 26 October 1998; Revised version received 9 December 1998; Accepted for publication 5 January 1999

BACKGROUNDThe General Practice Research Database (GPRD) covers over 6% of the population of England and Wales and holds data on diagnoses and prescribing from 1987 onwards. Most previous studies using the GPRD have concentrated on drug use and safety. A study was undertaken to assess the validity of using the GPRD for epidemiological research into respiratory diseases.
METHODSAge-specific and sex-specific rates derived from the GPRD for 11 respiratory conditions were compared with patient consultation rates from the 4th Morbidity Survey in General Practice (MSGP4). Within the GPRD comparisons were made between patient diagnosis rates, patient prescription rates, and patient "prescription plus relevant diagnosis" rates for selected treatments.
RESULTSThere was good agreement between consultation rates in the MSGP4 and diagnosis or "prescription plus diagnosis" from the GPRD in terms of pattern and magnitude, except for "acute bronchitis or bronchiolitis" where the best comparison was the combination category of "chest infection" and/or "acute bronchitis or bronchiolitis". Within the GPRD, patient prescription rates for inhalers, tuberculosis or hayfever therapy showed little similarity with diagnosis only rates but a similarity was seen with the combination of "prescription plus diagnosis" which may be a better reflection of morbidity than diagnosis alone.
CONCLUSIONSThe GPRD appears to be valid for primary care epidemiological studies by comparison with MSGP4 and offers advantages in terms of large size, a longer time period covered, and ability to link prescriptions with diagnoses. However, careful interpretation is needed because not all consultations are recorded and the coding system used contains terms which do not directly map to ICD codes.


Keywords: computerised medical records; General Practice Research Database (GPRD); Morbidity Survey in General Practice (MSGP4); general practice; epidemiology; respiratory diseases

---

© 1999 by Thorax
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Gulliford, M., Latinovic, R., Charlton, J., Little, P., van Staa, T., Ashworth, M. (2009). Selective decrease in consultations and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in UK primary care up to 2006. J Public Health (Oxf) 31: 512-520 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jones, R., Charlton, J., Latinovic, R., Gulliford, M. C (2009). Alarm symptoms and identification of non-cancer diagnoses in primary care: cohort study. BMJ 339: b3094-b3094 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Winchester, C. C., Macfarlane, T. V., Thomas, M., Price, D. (2009). Antibiotic Prescribing and Outcomes of Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in UK Primary Care. Chest 135: 1163-1172 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Turner, S, Thomas, M, von Ziegenweidt, J, Price, D (2009). Prescribing trends in asthma: a longitudinal observational study. Arch. Dis. Child. 94: 16-22 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Walters, K., Rait, G., Petersen, I., Williams, R., Nazareth, I. (2008). Panic disorder and risk of new onset coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, and cardiac mortality: cohort study using the general practice research database. Eur Heart J 29: 2981-2988 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tata, L J, Lewis, S A, McKeever, T M, Smith, C J P, Doyle, P, Smeeth, L, Gibson, J E, Hubbard, R B (2008). Effect of maternal asthma, exacerbations and asthma medication use on congenital malformations in offspring: a UK population-based study. Thorax 63: 981-987 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Wells, A U, Hirani, N, on behalf of the BTS Interstitial Lung Disease Gui, (2008). Interstitial lung disease guideline. Thorax 63: v1-v58 [Full Text]  
• McGhan, R., Radcliff, T., Fish, R., Sutherland, E. R., Welsh, C., Make, B. (2007). Predictors of Rehospitalization and Death After a Severe Exacerbation of COPD. Chest 132: 1748-1755 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tata, L. J., Lewis, S. A., McKeever, T. M., Smith, C. J. P., Doyle, P., Smeeth, L., West, J., Hubbard, R. B. (2007). A Comprehensive Analysis of Adverse Obstetric and Pediatric Complications in Women with Asthma. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 175: 991-997 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tata, L., Hubbard, R., McKeever, T., Smith, C., Doyle, P, Smeeth, L, West, J, Lewis, S. (2007). Fertility Rates in Women with Asthma, Eczema, and Hay Fever: A General Population-based Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol 165: 1023-1030 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hughes, R. A., Charlton, J., Latinovic, R., Gulliford, M. C. (2006). No association between immunization and guillain-barre syndrome in the United kingdom, 1992 to 2000.. Arch Intern Med 166: 1301-1304 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Latinovic, R, Gulliford, M, Ridsdale, L (2006). Headache and migraine in primary care: consultation, prescription, and referral rates in a large population.. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 77: 385-387 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Alonso, A., Jick, S. S., Hernan, M. A. (2006). Allergy, histamine 1 receptor blockers, and the risk of multiple sclerosis. Neurology 66: 572-575 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Latinovic, R, Gulliford, M C, Hughes, R A C (2006). Incidence of common compressive neuropathies in primary care. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 77: 263-265 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Khalil, N., Xu, Y. D., O'Connor, R., Duronio, V. (2005). Proliferation of Pulmonary Interstitial Fibroblasts Is Mediated by Transforming Growth Factor-beta1-induced Release of Extracellular Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 and Phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and JNK. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 43000-43009 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Soriano, J. B., Visick, G. T., Muellerova, H., Payvandi, N., Hansell, A. L. (2005). Patterns of Comorbidities in Newly Diagnosed COPD and Asthma in Primary Care. Chest 128: 2099-2107 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Samet, J. M. (2005). Inhaled Corticosteroids and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: New and Improved Evidence?. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 172: 407-408 [Full Text]  
• Kiri, V. A., Pride, N. B., Soriano, J. B., Vestbo, J. (2005). Inhaled Corticosteroids in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Results from Two Observational Designs Free of Immortal Time Bias. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 172: 460-464 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ruigomez, A., Rodriguez, L. A. G., Wallander, M.-A., Johansson, S., Thomas, M., Price, D. (2005). Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease and Asthma: A Longitudinal Study in UK General Practice. Chest 128: 85-93 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jordan, K., Porcheret, M., Croft, P. (2004). Quality of morbidity coding in general practice computerized medical records: a systematic review. Fam Pract 21: 396-412 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Khalil, N., O'Connor, R. (2004). Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: current understanding of the pathogenesis and the status of treatment. CMAJ 171: 153-160 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kadam, U T, Jordan, K, Croft, P R (2004). Clinical comorbidity in patients with osteoarthritis: a case-control study of general practice consulters in England and Wales. Ann Rheum Dis 63: 408-414 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tata, L J, West, J, Harrison, T, Farrington, P, Smith, C, Hubbard, R (2003). Does influenza vaccination increase consultations, corticosteroid prescriptions, or exacerbations in subjects with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?. Thorax 58: 835-839 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• (2003). The pharmacoepidemiology of COPD: Recent advances and methodological discussion. Eur Respir J 22: 1s-44s [Full Text]  
• Thiru, K., Hassey, A., Sullivan, F. (2003). Systematic review of scope and quality of electronic patient record data in primary care. BMJ 326: 1070- [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Marchand, E. (2003). Survival in COPD patients after regular use of fluticasone propionate and salmeterol. Eur Respir J 21: 559-560 [Full Text]  
• Hansell, A., Hollowell, J., McNiece, R., Nichols, T., Strachan, D. (2003). Validity and interpretation of mortality, health service and survey data on COPD and asthma in England. Eur Respir J 21: 279-286 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Soriano, J.B., Vestbo, J., Pride, N.B., Kiri, V., Maden, C., Maier, W.C. (2002). Survival in COPD patients after regular use of fluticasone propionate and salmeterol in general practice. Eur Respir J 20: 819-825 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lanes, S F, Garcia Rodriguez, L A, Huerta, C (2002). Respiratory medications and risk of asthma death. Thorax 57: 683-686 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Watson, D. J., Rhodes, T., Cai, B., Guess, H. A. (2002). Lower Risk of Thromboembolic Cardiovascular Events With Naproxen Among Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arch Intern Med 162: 1105-1110 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hubbard, R. (2001). Occupational dust exposure and the aetiology of cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis. Eur Respir J 18: 119S-121s [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gibbs, R. G. J., Newson, R., Lawrenson, R., Greenhalgh, R. M., Davies, A. H. (2001). Diagnosis and Initial Management of Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack Across UK Health Regions From 1992 to 1996 : Experience of a National Primary Care Database. Stroke 32: 1085-1090 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• HELMS, P. J (2000). Inhaled disodium cromoglycate as maintenance therapy for childhood asthma: time to consign to history?. Thorax 55: 886-886 [Full Text]  
• Soriano, J. B, Maier, W. C, Egger, P., Visick, G., Thakrar, B., Sykes, J., Pride, N. B (2000). Recent trends in physician diagnosed COPD in women and men in the UK. Thorax 55: 789-794 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gupta, D., Hansell, A., Nichols, T., Duong, T., Ayres, J. G, Strachan, D. (2000). Epidemiology of pneumothorax in England. Thorax 55: 666-671 [Abstract] [Full Text]