Addressing the challenges of integrating digital health technologies to measure patient-centred outcomes in clinical registries.

Longitudinal patient registries generate important evidence for advancing clinical care and the regulatory evaluation of health-care products. Most national registries rely on data collected as part of routine clinical encounters, an approach that does not capture real-world, patient-centred outcomes, such as physical activity, fatigue, ability to do daily tasks, and other indicators of quality of life. Digital health technologies that obtain such real-world data could greatly enhance patient registries but unresolved challenges have so far prevented their broad adoption.

Routine measurement of cardiometabolic disease risk factors in primary care in England before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A population-based cohort study.

Background: This study estimated to what extent the number of measurements of cardiometabolic risk factors (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin) were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and whether these have recovered to expected levels.

Accuracy of healthcare systems data for identifying cardiovascular outcomes after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage in the United Kingdom.

Background: Healthcare systems data (HCSD) could improve the efficiency of clinical trials, but their accuracy and validity are uncertain. Our objective was to assess the accuracy of HCSD as the sole method of outcome detection in the REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART; ISRCTN71907627) compared with adjudicated questionnaire follow-up and compare estimates of treatment effect.

Methods: RESTART was a prospective, open, assessor-blind, parallel-group randomised controlled trial (RCT) of antiplatelet therapy after intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) in the UK.

Contemporary epidemiology of hospitalised heart failure with reduced versus preserved ejection fraction in England: a retrospective, cohort study of whole-population electronic health records.

Background: Heart failure is common, complex, and often associated with coexisting chronic medical conditions and a high mortality. We aimed to assess the epidemiology of people admitted to hospital with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), including the period covering the COVID-19 pandemic, which was previously not well characterised.

Methods: In this retrospective, cohort study, we used whole-population electronic health records with 57 million individuals in England to identify patients hospitalised with heart failure as the primary diagnosis in any consultant episode of an in-patient admission to a National Health Service (NHS) hospital.

Cohort study of cardiovascular safety of different COVID-19 vaccination doses among 46 million adults in England.

The first dose of COVID-19 vaccines led to an overall reduction in cardiovascular events, and in rare cases, cardiovascular complications. There is less information about the effect of second and booster doses on cardiovascular diseases. Using longitudinal health records from 45.

Vaccinations, cardiovascular drugs, hospitalization, and mortality in COVID-19 and Long COVID.

Objective: To identify highest-risk subgroups for COVID-19 and Long COVID(LC), particularly in contexts of influenza and cardiovascular disease(CVD).

Methods: Using national, linked electronic health records for England (NHS England Secure Data Environment via CVD-COVID-UK/COVID-IMPACT Consortium), we studied individuals (of all ages) with COVID-19 and LC (2020-2023). We compared all-cause hospitalization and mortality by prior CVD, high CV risk, vaccination status (COVID-19/influenza), and CVD drugs, investigating impact of vaccination and CVD prevention using population preventable fractions.

Generation Scotland: an update on Scotland's longitudinal family health study.

Purpose: Generation Scotland (GS) is a large family-based cohort study established as a longitudinal resource for research into the genetic, lifestyle and environmental determinants of physical and mental health. It comprises extensive genetic, sociodemographic and clinical data from volunteers in Scotland.

Participants: A total of 24 084 adult participants, including 5501 families, were recruited between 2006 and 2011.

Methods applied to neonatal dried blood spot samples for secondary research purposes: a scoping review.

This scoping review aimed to synthesize the analytical techniques used and methodological limitations encountered when undertaking secondary research using residual neonatal dried blood spot (DBS) samples. Studies that used residual neonatal DBS samples for secondary research (i.e.

A nationwide, population-based study on specialized care for acute heart failure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the delivery of care for patients with heart failure (HF), leading to fewer HF hospitalizations and increased mortality. However, nationwide data on quality of care and long-term outcomes across the pandemic are scarce.

Methods And Results: We used data from the National Heart Failure Audit (NHFA) linked to national records for hospitalization and deaths.

Blood-based epigenome-wide analyses of chronic low-grade inflammation across diverse population cohorts.

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of age-related disease states. The effectiveness of inflammatory proteins including C-reactive protein (CRP) in assessing long-term inflammation is hindered by their phasic nature. DNA methylation (DNAm) signatures of CRP may act as more reliable markers of chronic inflammation.

New quality outcome indicators for bone metastases: expert consensus analysis of patients, their families and specialist healthcare professionals.

Objectives: As workload increases, surgical care for patients with bone metastases is increasingly decentralised, with a shift in management away from primary bone tumour units to local centres. We must ensure that patients have similar outcomes regardless of where they receive their treatment. The aim was to develop and validate a set of quality outcome indicators (QOIs) to evaluate treatment success for patients undergoing surgery for bone metastases.

Ethnicity data resource in population-wide health records: completeness, coverage and granularity of diversity.

Intersectional social determinants including ethnicity are vital in health research. We curated a population-wide data resource of self-identified ethnicity data from over 60 million individuals in England primary care, linking it to hospital records. We assessed ethnicity data in terms of completeness, consistency, and granularity and found one in ten individuals do not have ethnicity information recorded in primary care.

C-Reactive Protein, Interleukin-6, and Vascular Recurrence According to Stroke Subtype: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Anti-inflammatory therapies reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in coronary artery disease but remain unproven after stroke. Establishing the subtype-specific association between inflammatory markers and recurrence risk is essential for optimal selection of patients in randomized trials (RCTs) of anti-inflammatory therapies for secondary stroke prevention.

Methods: Using individual participant data (IPD) identified from a systematic review, we analyzed the association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and vascular recurrence after ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack.

Multiple Cardiac Biomarkers to Improve Prediction of Cardiovascular Events: Findings from the Generation Scotland Scottish Family Health Study.

Background: Many studies have investigated whether single cardiac biomarkers improve cardiovascular risk prediction for primary prevention but whether a combined approach could further improve risk prediction is unclear. We aimed to test a sex-specific, combined cardiac biomarker approach for cardiovascular risk prediction.

Methods: In the Generation Scotland Scottish Family Health Study, N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), cardiac troponin T (cTnT), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in stored serum using automated immunoassays.

Cardiovascular events and venous thromboembolism after primary malignant or non-malignant brain tumour diagnosis: a population matched cohort study in Wales (United Kingdom).

Background: Elevated standardised mortality ratio of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in patients with brain tumours may result from differences in the CVD incidences and cardiovascular risk factors. We compared the risk of CVD among patients with a primary malignant or non-malignant brain tumour to a matched general population cohort, accounting for other co-morbidities.

Methods: Using data from the Secured Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank in Wales (United Kingdom), we identified all adults aged ≥ 18 years in the primary care database with first diagnosis of malignant or non-malignant brain tumour identified in the cancer registry in 2000-2014 and a matched cohort (case-to-control ratio 1:5) by age, sex and primary care provider from the general population without any cancer diagnosis.

Cardiovascular imaging research priorities.

Objectives: Two interlinked surveys were organised by the British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre, which aimed to establish national priorities for cardiovascular imaging research.

Methods: First a single time point public survey explored their views of cardiovascular imaging research. Subsequently, a three-phase modified Delphi prioritisation exercise was performed by researchers and healthcare professionals.

Antipsychotic drug prescribing and mortality in people with dementia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study in Wales, UK.

Background: Concerns have been raised that antipsychotic drug prescribing, which has been associated with increased mortality in people with dementia, might have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to social restrictions imposed to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We used multisource, routinely collected health-care data from Wales, UK to investigate prescribing and mortality variations in people with dementia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we used individual-level, anonymised, population-scale linked health data to identify adults aged 60 years and older with a diagnosis of dementia in Wales, UK.

Understanding the genetic complexity of puberty timing across the allele frequency spectrum.

Pubertal timing varies considerably and has been associated with a range of health outcomes in later life. To elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms, we performed multi-ancestry genetic analyses in ~800,000 women, identifying 1,080 independent signals associated with age at menarche. Collectively these loci explained 11% of the trait variance in an independent sample, with women at the top and bottom 1% of polygenic risk exhibiting a ~11 and ~14-fold higher risk of delayed and precocious pubertal development, respectively.

Refining epigenetic prediction of chronological and biological age.

Background: Epigenetic clocks can track both chronological age (cAge) and biological age (bAge). The latter is typically defined by physiological biomarkers and risk of adverse health outcomes, including all-cause mortality. As cohort sample sizes increase, estimates of cAge and bAge become more precise.

Charting a Course for Smartphones and Wearables to Transform Population Health Research.

The use of data from smartphones and wearable devices has huge potential for population health research, given the high level of device ownership; the range of novel health-relevant data types available from consumer devices; and the frequency and duration with which data are, or could be, collected. Yet, the uptake and success of large-scale mobile health research in the last decade have not met this intensely promoted opportunity. We make the argument that digital person-generated health data are required and necessary to answer many top priority research questions, using illustrative examples taken from the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships.