Can primary care data be used to monitor regional smoking prevalence? An analysis of The Health Improvement Network primary care data

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Stephen Wythe¹  Tessa E Langley¹  Sarah A Lewis¹  Lisa C Szatkowski¹ 

[1] Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham, Nottingham City Hospital, Clinical Sciences Building, NG5 1PB, Nottingham, UK;

关键词: Tobacco Control;    Smoking Prevalence;    National Survey Data;    Primary Care Data;    Primary Care Record;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-773

 received in 2011-07-12, accepted in 2011-10-07,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAccurate and timely regional data on smoking trends allow tobacco control interventions to be targeted at the areas most in need and facilitate the evaluation of such interventions. Electronic primary care databases have the potential to provide a valuable source of such data due to their size, continuity and the availability of socio-demographic data. UK electronic primary care data on smoking prevalence from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) have previously been validated at the national level, but may be less representative at the regional level due to reduced sample sizes. We investigated whether this database provides valid regional data and whether it can be used to compare smoking prevalence in different UK regions.MethodsAnnual estimates of smoking prevalence by government office region (GOR) from THIN were compared with estimates of smoking prevalence from the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) from 2000 to 2008.ResultsFor all regions, THIN prevalence data were generally found to be highly comparable with GLF data from 2006 onwards.ConclusionsTHIN primary care data could be used to monitor regional smoking prevalence and highlight regional differences in smoking in the UK.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Langley et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011