CPRD studies: How we use UK electronic health record (EHR) data
Conducting real-world post-authorisation studies on data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) is one of the DSRU’s core activities. Recognition of the importance of real world data has increased greatly in recent years, especially amongst regulators, and the UK healthcare system is well-suited to the real-world approach. CPRD is the UK’s general practice EHR database comprising anonymised data for 60 million patients across the UK, including 18 million current patients. CPRD provides unique opportunities for researchers to utilise the power of a longitudinal health dataset to answer a range of research questions. Click here to watch our brief video and find out more.
The DSRU joined the VAC4EU consortium (Vaccine monitoring Collaboration for Europe) during the Covid pandemic in order to be able to collaborate with European partners to monitor the safety of vaccines across Europe. VAC4EU has 28 members including research organisations and public health institutes. The DSRU is a very active member having completed three vaccine safety studies with VAC4EU and currently undertaking a further 11 studies on Covid and non-Covid vaccines. Our Head of Epidemiology and Research, Debabrata Roy, is also a member of the VAC4EU Executive Board.
Examples of vaccine safety CPRD studies conducted by the DSRU as a VAC4EU member include:
- Clinical course, outcomes and risk factors of myocarditis and pericarditis following administration of Moderna vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2
- Post-Authorization Safety Study (PASS) among recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 (COMIRNATY®)
- A post-authorisation/post-marketing observational study to evaluate the association between exposure to AZD1222 and safety concerns using existing secondary health data sources (COVID-19)
We have also completed several studies focusing on the safety and utilisation of medicines using data from CPRD, including this retrospective cohort study:
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