OpenPrescribing: normalised data and software tool to research trends in English NHS primary care prescribing 1998-2016
<h4>Objectives</h4> <p>We aimed to compile and normalise England’s national prescribing data for 1998–2016 to facilitate research on long-term time trends and create an opendata exploration tool for wider use.</p> <h4>Design</h4> <p>We compiled data from ea...
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| Médium: | Journal article |
| Jazyk: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2018
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| Shrnutí: | <h4>Objectives</h4> <p>We aimed to compile and normalise England’s national prescribing data for 1998–2016 to facilitate research on long-term time trends and create an opendata exploration tool for wider use.</p> <h4>Design</h4> <p>We compiled data from each individual year’s national statistical publications and normalised them by mapping each drug to its current classification within the national formulary where possible. We created a freely accessible, interactive web tool to allow anyone to interact with the processed data.</p> <h4>Setting and participants</h4> <p>We downloaded all available annual prescription cost analysis datasets, which include cost and quantity for all prescription items dispensed in the community in England. Medical devices and appliances were excluded.</p> <h4>Primary and secondary outcome measures</h4> <p>We measured the extent of normalisation of data and aimed to produce a functioning accessible analysis tool.</p> <h4>Results</h4> <p>All data were imported successfully. 87.5% of drugs were matched exactly on name to the current formulary and a further 6.5% to similar drug names. All drugs in core clinical chapters were reconciled to their current location in the data schema, with only 1.26% of drugs not assigned a current chemical code. We created an openly accessible interactive tool to facilitate wider use of these data.</p> <h4>Conclusions</h4> <p>Publicly available data can be made accessible through interactive online tools to help researchers and policymakers explore time trends in prescribing.</p> |
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