In light of the COVID-19 crisis, in March 2020 colleagues from NHS Lothian and the University of Edinburgh asked the DataLoch team to help in the production of a dedicated COVID-19-linked dataset. This request was motivated by a need to support immediate hospital-based service management and to provide a foundation for active and anticipated regional and national research into the outbreak.

The DataLoch team, working in collaboration with clinicians on NHS Lothian data, built a linked COVID-19 dataset for use by approved researchers within six weeks. It became available on 30 April 2020. 

 

Combined routine, testing, and manually checked clinical data

The COVID-19 dataset brought together critical information that reduced the administrative burden of individually requesting these data on a project-by-project basis. (These data have since been integrated within our standard Metadata Catalogue for potential inclusion within a greater range of projects.) The COVID-19 dataset itself:

  • combines data from many sources including the hospital laboratory information system, electronic patient records, Scottish morbidity records, critical care and medicine prescribing information;
  • provides information on the reasons for testing, symptoms (type and duration), and vulnerability to infection via a series of questions embedded in the clinical request for testing; and
  • manually collected data on all COVID-19-positive patients’ hospital episodes, including initial symptoms, risk scores, comorbidities, radiology investigations, treatments, complications, outcomes and cause of death.

The rapid collection and linkage of data as part of the COVID-19 Collaborative was made possible due to the extensive efforts of an interdisciplinary team.

COVID-19 Collaborative

 

Projects that have used our COVID Registry to date

So far, we have enabled around 20 projects that have explored specific aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Lothian region with several resulting in vital research publications that add to the collective learning about COVID-19 and its multiple impacts.

 

The relationship between socioeconomic factors and COVID-19

Led by the NHS Lothian Infection Service, researchers found that the risk of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic were doubled for those with specific indicators of deprivation. In particular, there was an increased risk for those living in areas with a) lower levels of average income and/or b) higher numbers of hospitalisations due to alcohol consumption. 

Therefore, researchers suggest that for future allocation of resources, there may be greater benefit in looking at specific measures of local deprivation - such as income, education level, crime rates, access to amenities - rather than the overall deprivation level, particularly in areas where overall affluence may mask pockets of deprivation.

View the open-access article

 

Exploring assessment of frailty and predicting outcomes for COVID-19 patients

It was shown in the earliest stages of the pandemic, that patients who were more frail were more impacted when infected by COVID-19. One study enabled by DataLoch focussed on two different approaches of assessing frailty and the outcomes on COVID-19 patients over 65 years old. They found that the Clinical Frailty Scale was a better approach in predicting deaths and therefore would offer better targeted support for clinical decision-making around treatments in older patients following COVID-19 infection.

View the open-access article

 

Influence of Chronic Kidney Disease on COVID-19 patient outcomes

As well as frailty, early COVID-19 research suggested that heart disease influenced patient outcomes. A DataLoch-facilitated project paid close attention to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which is closely linked with heart disease. Researchers showed that for patients diagnosed with COVID-19, those with underlying CKD had a higher risk of death from heart disease compared to those without CKD, particularly in the first month following their positive test. 

View the open-access article

 

To find out more about the projects that accessed our COVID-19 Registry, visit our Projects Delivered page:

Projects Delivered

 

Case Studies

Case Studies

Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids logo: drawn jumper with horizontal strips - blues at the top changing to pinks and reds at the bottom

Tackling environmental impacts on childhood respiratory health

For a novel study looking at the connections between energy poverty and preschool respiratory infections, we have played a key role in fostering additional partnerships to expand the project and achieve greater real-world impact.
Read More
Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids logo: drawn jumper with horizontal strips - blues at the top changing to pinks and reds at the bottom

Tackling environmental impacts on childhood respiratory health

For a novel study looking at the connections between energy poverty and preschool respiratory infections, we have played a key role in fostering additional partnerships to expand the project and achieve greater real-world impact.
Read More
Close-up of feet on weighing scales

Making it easier for researchers to explore lifestyle impacts on health

As part of our March 2023 update, we focused on developing a portfolio of lifestyle data – such as Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements and smoking status – in a format that can be more easily utilised by researchers. Through the example of alcohol-consumption data, we explain some of the new possibilities, as well as the difficulties encountered and resolved along the way.
Read More
Close-up of feet on weighing scales

Making it easier for researchers to explore lifestyle impacts on health

As part of our March 2023 update, we focused on developing a portfolio of lifestyle data – such as Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements and smoking status – in a format that can be more easily utilised by researchers. Through the example of alcohol-consumption data, we explain some of the new possibilities, as well as the difficulties encountered and resolved along the way.
Read More