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Data Access Register - full project summary

Application ID LLC_0035
Project Title External validation of SNOMED-based mental health phenotypes, and their patterns of clinical presentation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Lead Applicant Ann John
Organisation(s) Name(s) Swansea University
Approval Date 03/04/2025
Application Status Approved
Lay Summary

Our project aims to understand how visits to primary care for mental health issues changed over time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do this, we will first improve how we identify mental health conditions in medical records. We will use SNOMED CT—a detailed dictionary of clinical codes for various diseases, symptoms, and treatments. We have created lists of these codes specifically for mental health diagnoses. As part of the project, we will first check how well these code lists (called “phenotypes”) reflect real diagnoses of mental health issues by comparing them to other verified sources (cohort data). This will allow us to improve our phenotypes to better capture mental health records in primary care. Once our phenotypes are completed, we will examine how primary care visits for mental health have evolved over time, comparing the period before, during, and after the pandemic. To strengthen our findings, we will use data from the available primary care records, not just a specific group of people (specific cohort data).

Datasets Requested

LPS Data:

  • Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents & Children (ALSPAC)
  • 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
  • Born in Bradford (BIB)
  • Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD)
  • Millennium Cohort Study (MCS)
  • National Child Development Study 1958 (NCDS58)
  • NEXTSTEP
  • TWINS UK
  • Twins Early Development Study (TEDS)

Linked Data Requested

  • Demographics
  • Civil Registration – Deaths
  • Mental Health Services Data Set
  • GDPPR Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19)

 

Results & Impact