Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
Background: People who use illicit opioids such as heroin have substantial health needs, but there are few longitudinal studies of general health and healthcare in this population. Most research to date has focused on a narrow set of outcomes, including overdoses and HIV or hepatitis infections. We...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wellcome
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Wellcome Open Research |
| Online Access: | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-282/v2 |
| _version_ | 1818645775968632832 |
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| author | Dan Lewer Prianka Padmanathan Muhammad Qummer ul Arfeen Spiros Denaxas Harriet Forbes Arturo Gonzalez-Izquierdo Matt Hickman |
| author_facet | Dan Lewer Prianka Padmanathan Muhammad Qummer ul Arfeen Spiros Denaxas Harriet Forbes Arturo Gonzalez-Izquierdo Matt Hickman |
| author_sort | Dan Lewer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: People who use illicit opioids such as heroin have substantial health needs, but there are few longitudinal studies of general health and healthcare in this population. Most research to date has focused on a narrow set of outcomes, including overdoses and HIV or hepatitis infections. We developed and validated a cohort using UK primary care electronic health records (Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and AURUM databases) to facilitate research into healthcare use by people who use illicit opioid use (HUPIO). Methods: Participants are patients in England with primary care records indicating a history of illicit opioid use. We identified codes including prescriptions of opioid agonist therapies (methadone and buprenorphine) and clinical observations such as ‘heroin dependence’. We constructed a cohort of patients with at least one of these codes and aged 18-64 at cohort entry, with follow-up between January 1997 and March 2020. We validated the cohort by comparing patient characteristics and mortality rates to other cohorts of people who use illicit opioids, with different recruitment methods. Results: Up to March 2020, the HUPIO cohort included 138,761 patients with a history of illicit opioid use. Demographic characteristics and all-cause mortality were similar to existing cohorts: 69% were male; the median age at index for patients in CPRD AURUM (the database with more included participants) was 35.3 (interquartile range 29.1-42.6); the average age of new cohort entrants increased over time; 76% had records indicating current tobacco smoking; patients disproportionately lived in deprived neighbourhoods; and all-cause mortality risk was 6.6 (95% CI 6.5-6.7) times the general population of England. Conclusions: Primary care data offer new opportunities to study holistic health outcomes and healthcare of this population. The large sample enables investigation of rare outcomes, whilst the availability of linkage to external datasets allows investigation of hospital use, cancer treatment, and mortality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T00:36:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c85677eab7b54737a0d90418f8ad0522 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-502X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T00:36:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Wellcome |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wellcome Open Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-c85677eab7b54737a0d90418f8ad05222022-12-21T22:10:08ZengWellcomeWellcome Open Research2398-502X2021-05-01510.12688/wellcomeopenres.16431.218411Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]Dan Lewer0Prianka Padmanathan1Muhammad Qummer ul Arfeen2Spiros Denaxas3Harriet Forbes4Arturo Gonzalez-Izquierdo5Matt Hickman6Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, NW1 2DA, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UD, UKInstitute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, NW1 2DA, UKInstitute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, NW1 2DA, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UD, UKInstitute of Health Informatics, University College London, London, NW1 2DA, UKPopulation Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1UD, UKBackground: People who use illicit opioids such as heroin have substantial health needs, but there are few longitudinal studies of general health and healthcare in this population. Most research to date has focused on a narrow set of outcomes, including overdoses and HIV or hepatitis infections. We developed and validated a cohort using UK primary care electronic health records (Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD and AURUM databases) to facilitate research into healthcare use by people who use illicit opioid use (HUPIO). Methods: Participants are patients in England with primary care records indicating a history of illicit opioid use. We identified codes including prescriptions of opioid agonist therapies (methadone and buprenorphine) and clinical observations such as ‘heroin dependence’. We constructed a cohort of patients with at least one of these codes and aged 18-64 at cohort entry, with follow-up between January 1997 and March 2020. We validated the cohort by comparing patient characteristics and mortality rates to other cohorts of people who use illicit opioids, with different recruitment methods. Results: Up to March 2020, the HUPIO cohort included 138,761 patients with a history of illicit opioid use. Demographic characteristics and all-cause mortality were similar to existing cohorts: 69% were male; the median age at index for patients in CPRD AURUM (the database with more included participants) was 35.3 (interquartile range 29.1-42.6); the average age of new cohort entrants increased over time; 76% had records indicating current tobacco smoking; patients disproportionately lived in deprived neighbourhoods; and all-cause mortality risk was 6.6 (95% CI 6.5-6.7) times the general population of England. Conclusions: Primary care data offer new opportunities to study holistic health outcomes and healthcare of this population. The large sample enables investigation of rare outcomes, whilst the availability of linkage to external datasets allows investigation of hospital use, cancer treatment, and mortality.https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-282/v2 |
| spellingShingle | Dan Lewer Prianka Padmanathan Muhammad Qummer ul Arfeen Spiros Denaxas Harriet Forbes Arturo Gonzalez-Izquierdo Matt Hickman Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] Wellcome Open Research |
| title | Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full | Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_fullStr | Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_short | Healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids (HUPIO): development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in England [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_sort | healthcare use by people who use illicit opioids hupio development of a cohort based on electronic primary care records in england version 2 peer review 2 approved |
| url | https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-282/v2 |
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