A novel approach of creating sustainable urban planning solutions that optimise the local air quality and environmental equity in Helsinki, Finland: The CouSCOUS study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Air pollution is one of the major environmental challenges cities worldwide face today. Planning healthy environments for all future populations, whilst considering the ongoing demand for urbanisation and provisions needed to combat climate change, remains a difficult task. OBJECTIVE: To combine artificial intelligence (AI), atmospheric and social sciences to provide urban planning solutions that optimise local air quality by applying novel methods and taking into consideration population structures and traffic flows. METHODS: We will use high-resolution spatial data and linked electronic population cohort for Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Finland) to model (a) population dynamics and urban inequality related to air pollution; (b) detailed aerosol dynamics, aerosol and gas-phase chemistry together with detailed flow characteristics; (c) high-resolution traffic flow addressing dynamical changes at the city environment, such as accidents, construction work and unexpected congestion. Finally, we will fuse the information resulting from these models into an optimal city planning model balancing air quality, comfort, accessibility and travelling efficiency.

Shining the light on eating disorders, incidence, prognosis and profiling of patients in primary and secondary care: national data linkage study.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosing eating disorders can be difficult and few people with the disorder receive specialist services despite the associated high morbidity and mortality. AIMS: To examine the burden of eating disorders in the population in terms of incidence, comorbidities and survival. METHOD: We used linked electronic health records from general practitioner and hospital admissions in Wales, UK within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank to investigate the incidence of new eating disorder diagnoses. We examined the frequency of comorbid diagnoses and prescribed medications in cases and controls in the 2 years before and 3 years after diagnosis, and performed a survival analysis. RESULTS: A total of 15 558 people were diagnosed with eating disorders between 1990 and 2017. The incidence peaked at 24 per 100 000 people in 2003/04. People with eating disorders showed higher levels of other mental disorders (odds ratio 4.32, 95% CI 4.01-4.66) and external causes of morbidity and mortality (odds ratio 2.92, 95% CI 2.44-3.50). They had greater prescription of central nervous system drugs (odds ratio 3.15, 95% CI 2.97-3.33), gastrointestinal drugs (odds ratio 2.61, 95% CI 2.45-2.79) and dietetic drugs (odds ratio 2.42, 95% CI 2.24-2.62) before diagnosis. These excess diagnoses and prescriptions remained 3 years after diagnosis. Mortality was raised compared with controls for some eating disorders, particularly in females with anorexia nervosa. CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of diagnosed eating disorders is relatively low in the population but there is a major longer term burden in morbidity and mortality to the individual.

Diagnosed prevalence of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorder in Wales, UK: a national electronic cohort study and case-control comparison.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology of diagnosed hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) using linked electronic medical records. To examine whether these conditions remain rare and primarily affect the musculoskeletal system. DESIGN: Nationwide linked electronic cohort and nested case-control study. SETTING: Routinely collected data from primary care and hospital admissions in Wales, UK. PARTICIPANTS: People within the primary care or hospital data systems with a coded diagnosis of EDS or joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) between 1 July 1990 and 30 June 2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Combined prevalence of JHS and EDS in Wales. Additional diagnosis and prescription data in those diagnosed with EDS or JHS compared with matched controls. RESULTS: We found 6021 individuals (men: 30%, women: 70%) with a diagnostic code of either EDS or JHS. This gives a diagnosed point prevalence of 194.2 per 100 000 in 2016/2017 or roughly 10 cases in a practice of 5000 patients. There was a pronounced gender difference of 8.5 years (95% CI: 7.70 to 9.22) in the mean age at diagnosis. EDS or JHS was not only associated with high odds for other musculoskeletal diagnoses and drug prescriptions but also with significantly higher odds of a diagnosis in other disease categories (eg, mental health, nervous and digestive systems) and higher odds of a prescription in most disease categories (eg, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular drugs) within the 12 months before and after the first recorded diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: EDS and JHS (since March 2017 classified as EDS or HSD) have historically been considered rare diseases only affecting the musculoskeletal system and soft tissues. These data demonstrate that both these assertions should be reconsidered.

The role of health and social factors in education outcome: A record-linked electronic birth cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Health status in childhood is correlated with educational outcomes. Emergency hospital admissions during childhood are common but it is not known how these unplanned breaks from schooling impact on education outcomes. We hypothesised that children who had emergency hospital admissions had an increased risk of lower educational attainment, in addition to the increased risks associated with other health, social and school factors. METHODS: This record-linked electronic birth cohort, included children born in Wales between 1 January 1998 and 31 August 2001. We fitted multilevel logistic regression models grouped by schools, to determine whether emergency hospital inpatient admission before age 7 years was associated with the educational outcome of not attaining the expected level in a teacher-based assessment at age 7 years (KS1). We adjusted for pregnancy, perinatal, socio-economic, neighbourhood, pupil mobility and school-level factors. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 64 934 children. Overall, 4680 (7.2%) did not attain the expected educational level. Emergency admission to hospital was associated with poor educational attainment (OR 1.12 95% Credible Interval (CI) 1.05, 1.20 for all causes during childhood, OR 1.19 95%CI 1.07, 1.32 for injuries and external causes and OR 1.31 95%CI 1.04, 1.22 for admissions during infancy), after adjusting for known determinants of education outcomes such as extreme prematurity, being small for gestational age and socio-economic indicators, such as eligibility for free school meals. CONCLUSION: Emergency inpatient hospital admission during childhood, particularly during infancy or for injuries and external causes was associated with an increased risk of lower education attainment at age 7 years, in addition to the effects of pregnancy factors (gestational age, birthweight) and social deprivation. These findings support the need for injury prevention measures and additional support in school for affected children to help them to achieve their potential.

Validating injury burden estimates using population birth cohorts and longitudinal cohort studies of injury outcomes: the VIBES-Junior study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic injury is a leading contributor to the global disease burden in children and adolescents, but methods used to estimate burden do not account for differences in patterns of injury and recovery between children and adults. A lack of empirical data on postinjury disability in children has limited capacity to derive valid disability weights and describe the long-term individual and societal impacts of injury in the early part of life. The aim of this study is to establish valid estimates of the burden of non-fatal injury in children and adolescents. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Five longitudinal studies of paediatric injury survivors <18 years at the time of injury (Australia, Canada, UK and USA) and two whole-of-population linked administrative data paediatric studies (Australia and Wales) will be analysed over a 3-year period commencing 2018. Meta-analysis of deidentified patient-level data (n≈2,600) from five injury-specific longitudinal studies (Victorian State Trauma Registry; Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry; UK Burden of Injury; British Columbia Children's Hospital Longitudinal Injury Outcomes; Children's Health After Injury) and >1 million children from two whole-of-population cohorts (South Australian Early Childhood Data Project and Wales Electronic Cohort for Children). Systematic analysis of pooled injury-specific cohort data using a variety of statistical techniques, and parallel analysis of whole-of-population cohorts, will be used to develop estimated disability weights for years lost due to disability, establish appropriate injury classifications and explore factors influencing recovery. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The project was approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee project number 12 311. Results of this study will be submitted for publication in internationally peer-reviewed journals. The findings from this project have the capacity to improve the validity of paediatric injury burden measurements in future local and global burden of disease studies.

Educational Attainment at Age 10-11 Years Predicts Health Risk Behaviors and Injury Risk During Adolescence.

PURPOSE: To examine the effect of educational attainment in primary school on later adolescent health. METHODS: Education data attainments at age 7 and 11 were linked with (1) primary and secondary care injury consultation/admissions and (2) the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. Cox regression was carried out to examine if attainment in primary school predicts time to injury in adolescence. RESULTS: Pupils that achieve attainment at age 7 but not at age 11 (i.e., declining attainment over time in primary school) are more likely to have an injury during adolescence. These children are also more likely to self-report drinking in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions aimed at children with declining attainment in primary school could help to improve adolescent health.

Residential Moving and Preventable Hospitalizations.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between moving home in the first year of life and subsequent emergency admissions for potentially preventable hospitalizations. METHODS: We undertook a cohort analysis of linked anonymized data on 237 842 children in the Welsh Electronic Cohort for Children. We included children born in Wales between April 1, 1999 and December 31, 2008. The exposure was the number of residential moves from birth up to 1 year. The main outcome was emergency admissions for potentially preventable hospitalizations (PPH) between the age of 1 and 5 years. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounders, we identified that moving home frequently in the first year of life was associated with an increased risk of emergency PPH between the ages of 1 and 5 when compared with not moving. We found significant differences associated with ≥2 moves for the following: ear, nose, and throat infections (incidence risk ratio [IRR], 1.44; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29-1.61); convulsions/epilepsy (IRR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.23-2.04); injuries (IRR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.18-1.51); dehydration/gastroenteritis (IRR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.21-1.88); asthma (IRR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.19-2.16); influenza/pneumonia (IRR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.00-1.32); and dental conditions (IRR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.03-1.64) for ≥1 moves. CONCLUSIONS: Children who move home in the first year of life are at substantially increased risk of emergency admissions for PPH in early childhood. Additional research that focuses on enhancing health and social support services for highly mobile families, educating parents about safety risks, and improving housing quality is warranted.

Epilepsy and deprivation, a data linkage study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the link between epilepsy and deprivation is due to factors associated with deprivation (social causation) or factors associated with a diagnosis of epilepsy (social drift). METHODS: We reviewed electronic primary health care records from 2004 to 2010, identifying prevalent and incident cases of epilepsy and recording linked deprivation scores. Logistic and Poisson regression models were used to calculate odds ratios and incidence rate ratios. The change in deprivation was measured 10 years after the initial diagnosis of epilepsy for a cohort of people. RESULTS: Between 2004 and 2010, 8.1 million patient-years of records were reviewed. Epilepsy prevalence and incidence were significantly associated with deprivation. Epilepsy prevalence ranged from 1.13% (1.07-1.19%) in the most deprived decile to 0.49% (0.45-0.53%) in the least deprived decile (adjusted odds ratio 0.92, p < 0.001). Epilepsy incidence ranged from 40/100,000 per year in the most deprived decile to 19/100,000 per year in the least deprived decile (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.94, p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant change in deprivation index decile 10 years after a new diagnosis of epilepsy (mean difference -0.04, p = 0.85). SIGNIFICANCE: Epilepsy prevalence and incidence are strongly associated with deprivation; the deprivation score remains unchanged 10 years after a diagnosis of epilepsy. These findings suggest that increasing rates of epilepsy in deprived areas are more likely explained by social causation than by social drift. The nature of the association between incident epilepsy and social deprivation needs further exploration.

The association between hospitalisation for childhood head injury and academic performance: evidence from a population e-cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Childhood head injury has the potential for lifelong disability and burden. This study aimed to establish the association between admission to hospital for childhood head injury and early academic performance. METHODS: The Wales Electronic Cohort for Children (WECC) study is comprised of record-linked routinely collected data, on all children born or residing in Wales. Anonymous linking fields are used to link child and maternal health, environment and education records. Data from WECC were extracted for children born between September 1998 and August 2001. A Generalised Estimating Equation model, adjusted for clustering based on the maternal identifier as well as other key confounders, was used to establish the association between childhood head injury and performance on the Key Stage 1 (KS1) National Curriculum assessment administered to children aged 5-7 years. Head injury was defined as an emergency admission for >24 h for concussion, skull fracture or intracranial injury prior to KS1 assessment. RESULTS: Of the 101 892 eligible children, KS1 results were available for 90 661 (89%), and 290 had sustained a head injury. Children who sustained an intracranial injury demonstrated significantly lower adjusted odds of achieving a satisfactory KS1 result than children who had not been admitted to hospital for head injury (adjusted OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this population e-cohort study quantify the impact of head injury on academic performance, highlighting the need for enhanced head injury prevention strategies. The results have implications for the care and rehabilitation of children admitted to hospital with head injury.

Gestational age, birth weight, and risk of respiratory hospital admission in childhood.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk of emergency respiratory hospital admission during childhood associated with gestational age at birth and growth restriction in utero. METHODS: The study included a total population electronic birth cohort with anonymized record-linkage of multiple health and administrative data sets. Participants were 318,613 children born in Wales, United Kingdom, between May 1, 1998, and December 31, 2008. The main outcome measure was emergency respiratory hospital admissions. RESULTS: The rate of admission in the first year of life ranged from 41.5 per 100 child-years for infants born before 33 weeks' gestation to 9.8 per 100 child-years for infants born at 40 to 42 weeks' gestation. The risk of any emergency respiratory admission up to age 5 years increased as gestational age decreased to <40 weeks. Even at 39 weeks' gestation, there was an increased risk of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions compared with infants born at 40 to 42 weeks (adjusted hazard ratio 1.10; 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.13). Small for gestational age (<10th centile for gestation and gender-specific birth weight) was independently associated with an increased risk of any emergency respiratory admission to hospital (adjusted hazard ratio 1.07; 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.10). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of emergency respiratory admission up to age 5 years decreased with each successive week in gestation up to 40 to 42 weeks. Although the magnitude of increased risk associated with moderate and late preterm births is small, the number of infants affected is large and therefore presents a significant impact on health care services.

Protecting health data privacy while using residence-based environment and demographic data.

Spatial analyses of environment and health data are often made using point address data, despite the risk of identity disclosure. We describe how geospatial environment and non-spatial health data can be linked anonymously, thereby maintaining geoprivacy. High resolution environment data and population density were calculated specific to each residence. Population density and environment data were anonymously linked to individual-level demographic data using a split file method and residential anonymous linking fields. Access to the nearest park or playground was calculated for each residence; children in deprived areas have increased access compared to those in affluent areas. This method has the potential to be used to evaluate natural experiments and complex environmental health interventions.