Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Apr;3(2):89-99.
doi: 10.1177/2042098611435911.

Recent advances in the utility and use of the General Practice Research Database as an example of a UK Primary Care Data resource

Tim Williams, Tjeerd van Staa, Shivani Puri, Susan Eaton
Review

Recent advances in the utility and use of the General Practice Research Database as an example of a UK Primary Care Data resource

Tim Williams et al. Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Since its inception in the mid-1980s, the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) has undergone many changes but remains the largest validated and most utilised primary care database in the UK. Its use in pharmacoepidemiology stretches back many years with now over 800 original research papers. Administered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency since 2001, the last 5 years have seen a rebuild of the database processing system enhancing access to the data, and a concomitant push towards broadening the applications of the database. New methodologies including real-world harm-benefit assessment, pharmacogenetic studies and pragmatic randomised controlled trials within the database are being implemented. A substantive and unique linkage program (using a trusted third party) has enabled access to secondary care data and disease-specific registry data as well as socio-economic data and death registration data. The utility of anonymised free text accessed in a safe and appropriate manner is being explored using simple and more complex techniques such as natural language processing.

Keywords: database; pharmacoepidemiology; primary care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors are employees within the GPRD group of MHRA.

References

    1. Boggon R., van Staa T.P., Timmis A., Hemingway H., Ray K.K., Begg A., et al. (2011) Clopidogrel discontinuation after acute coronary syndromes: frequency, predictors and associations with death and myocardial infarction—a hospital registry-primary care linked cohort (MINAP-GPRD). Eur Heart J 32: 2376–2386 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bourke A., Dattani H., Robinson M. (2004) Feasibility study and methodology to create a quality-evaluated database of primary care data. Inform Prim Care 12: 171–177 - PubMed
    1. Carey I.M., Cook D.G., De Wilde S., Bremner S.A., Richards N., Caine S., et al. (2004) Developing a large electronic primary care database (Doctors’ Independent Network) for research. Int J Med Inform 73: 443–453 - PubMed
    1. de Lusignan S., van Vlymen J., Hague N., Dhoul N. (2006) Using computers to identify non-compliant people at increased risk of osteoporotic fractures in general practice: a cross-sectional study. Osteoporosis Int 17: 1808–1814 - PubMed
    1. de Lusignan S., van Weel C. (2006) The use of routinely collected computer data for research in primary care: opportunities and challenges. Fam Pract 23: 253–263 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources