Can J Kidney Health Dis
December 2024
Purpose: Using data from Ontario, Canada, this report shows how provincial government-assigned health card numbers can be used for individual-level randomization in large pragmatic trials. We describe how health card numbers are assigned and analyze the distribution of health card digits in a trial setting. We then provide an example of how they can be used for randomization and discuss the methodological and practical considerations of the approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Both the research literature and headline news stories indicate that the public cares about how their health data are used. The objective of this study was to learn more about the general public's attitudes toward users and uses of linked administrative health data held by ICES in Ontario, Canada.
Methods: Eight focus groups, with a total of 65 members of the general public, were conducted in urban and northern settings in Ontario, Canada, in 2015 and 2017 using qualitative market research panels established by a market research/public opinion research firm.
Objectives: To study the prevalence of self-medication among pharmacy customers in rural areas of Portugal, to assess possible predictors of self-medication and to find out whether there was a seasonal dependence in the purchase of drugs for self-medication.
Method: A cross-sectional study during four different periods of a year was conducted. Community pharmacies of rural areas of Portugal were invited to participate and pharmacists were asked to recruit one person every hour during the opening hours and administer a questionnaire.
Objective: To determine whether the use of inhaled corticosteroids or leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) has had an impact on asthma mortality in Portugal during the period 1991-2001.
Methods: A population-based ecological study was conducted for the period 1991-2001. Yearly asthma death rates were computed for all ages.
Can Respir J
February 2005
Background: Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are believed to be a common occurrence in patients with COPD and are known to be associated with considerable morbidity.
Objective: To describe the frequency of treated COPD exacerbations in a large population-based cohort.
Subjects And Methods: A cohort of newly treated patients with COPD was formed from the administrative databases of Saskatchewan Health.