Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland, Paisley, Edinburgh, UK.
J Clin Nurs. 2012 Oct;21(19-20):2711-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.04021.x.
This paper will focus on the key concepts behind record linkage and describe how probability matching of Scottish health records can be used for national health research.
Record linkage can bring together two or more records relating to the same individual. This allows information from multiple sources to be joined together to produce richer data sets for research purposes and has wide applicability in public health and epidemiological research. The probability matching techniques underpinning record linkage bring together records on a patient basis using key identifying information on each record. Scotland has a strong track record for performing linkage for research purposes owing to routinely collected and well-maintained national administrative health data sets, the emergence of the Scottish record linkage system and organisations like the Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland who centrally hold permanently linked patient-based databases. Design. A record linkage retrospective population cohort study is described within this paper.
The paper will describe current linkage methodology before discussing typical applications in the setting of Information Services Division and focusing on a particular linkage study investigating rates and risk factors for gastroschisis.
Conclusions from the gastroschisis study are typical of the types of important findings drawn from analysing linked health data.
Scotland's good track record for linking records for health research is evidenced by the high volume of research projects, publications and findings resulting from probability matching of national health data. Relevance to clinical practice. Record linkage allows information relating to the same person held across different data sources to be brought together. Probabilistic record linkage can overcome data quality issues, producing accurate matches. This allows linked, analysable, patient-based databases, capable of answering complex research questions, to be produced from several data sources with wide applications in the field of health research.
本文将重点介绍记录链接背后的关键概念，并描述如何使用苏格兰健康记录的概率匹配进行国家健康研究。
记录链接可以将两个或多个与同一人相关的记录合并在一起。这允许从多个来源获取信息并将其合并在一起，以生成更丰富的研究数据集，并在公共卫生和流行病学研究中具有广泛的适用性。记录链接背后的概率匹配技术使用每个记录上的关键识别信息，将记录按患者基础联系在一起。由于常规收集和维护的全国行政健康数据集、苏格兰记录链接系统的出现以及像 NHS 苏格兰国家服务信息服务部门这样的组织，苏格兰在出于研究目的进行链接方面有着良好的记录，这些组织集中持有基于患者的永久链接数据库。
本文描述了一项记录链接回顾性人群队列研究。
本文将在讨论信息服务部门中的典型应用之前，先描述当前的链接方法，并重点介绍一项特别的链接研究，该研究调查了腹裂的发生率和风险因素。
腹裂研究的结论是从分析链接健康数据中得出的重要发现的典型代表。
苏格兰在通过概率匹配国家健康数据进行健康研究方面有着良好的记录，这一点从大量的研究项目、出版物和发现中得到了证明。
临床相关性。记录链接允许将不同数据源中与同一人相关的信息汇集在一起。概率记录链接可以克服数据质量问题，产生准确的匹配。这允许从多个数据源生成链接、可分析、基于患者的数据库，能够回答复杂的研究问题，并在健康研究领域具有广泛的应用。
