Type of Source
| Examples of Source
| Data
| Advantages and Disadvantages
|
Routinely collected clinical data: |
| | |
a) Hospital admissions and secondary care data
| World Health Organization (WHO) Statistical Information System
| Records the prevalence of various diseases and health problems worldwide, using many types of health records including death certificates and hospital records
| These data do not provide a reliable assessment of allergic disease prevalence because allergic disorders are normally managed within outpatient departments or in the community. They do however offer an important insight into disease severity and burden
|
| Hospital Episode Statistics
| A database of hospital admissions in England
| |
| Scottish Morbidity Record 1
| The Information and Statistics Division, Scotland, collects information on in-patient and day-case episodes in Scottish hospitals
| |
b) Primary care | General Practice Research Database (GPRD)
| Anonymised longitudinal records from selected general practices in the United Kingdom, collated by the MHRA
| The information provided is often restricted due to patient confidentiality. GPRD and DIN are restricted by the cost of obtaining and analysing the data but have extensive detail. RCGP WRS is free but limited in the type of allergic conditions covered
|
| Doctors Independent Network (DIN)
| Anonymised large United Kingdom GP database
| |
| Royal College of General Practitioners Weekly Returns Service (RCGP WRS)
| Information on general practice consultations across England and Wales
| |
| Prescribing Analysis and Cost
| Details of the number and cost of prescriptions issued
| |
| Primary Care Clinical Informatics Unit, Aberdeen, Scotland
| Information on consultations from a sample of general practices across Scotland
| |
| Practice Team Information, Scotland
| Practice Team Information collects data from a sample of Scottish practices on patients' encounters with members of the practice team, including general practitioners, and practice and community nurses
| |
| Quality and Outcomes Framework, England and Scotland
| These include quality indicators for asthma care. Data from the asthma register used for assessing quality outcomes can be used as a measure of prevalence
| |
Specifically commissioned by the Department of Health
| QRESEARCH project conducted by the University of Nottingham
| An analysis of the epidemiology of allergic disorders, based on data collected routinely from general practices
| |
Population based surveys | Health Survey for England
| A series of annual surveys since 1991 conducted by the Department of Health on various health aspects. It covers asthma, hayfever and eczema periodically, but has not covered other allergic disorders
| Population-based surveys capture a wide range of symptoms and are particularly useful when monitoring disease prevalence over a length of time at repeated intervals
|
| Scottish Health Survey
| Consists of a series of three national surveys of the Scottish population conducted in 1995, 1998 and 2003 on various health aspects, commissioned by the Scottish Executive Health Department. The only relevant data these surveys provide is on asthma
| However, they must include meaningful allergy-related questions which are worded in the same way in each language following translation
|
| European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS)
| Data on the prevalence of allergic disease and low lung function in adults from 14 countries (mostly European). After the original ECRHS I survey, a follow-up survey, ECRHS II, began in 1998
| |
| International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)
| Records the prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in children worldwide, using questionnaires in three different phases
| |
Birth cohort | Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents And Children (ALSPAC)
| Analysis of parents and children in the West of England to examine which biological, environmental and social factors contribute to health or disease. This forms part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy And Childhood (ELSPAC)
| |
| British 1958 birth cohort
| The National Child Development Study is a longitudinal study which studies all the people born in England, Scotland and Wales in one week in March 1958
| |
| Isle of Wight Birth Cohort Study
| A birth cohort study to examine asthma and allergy within the population of the Isle of Wight
| |
Mortality | National Statistics; General Register Office for Scotland
| Routine data on numbers of deaths in the United Kingdom from death certificates. These can be used to calculate population based rates
| Only useful for allergies in which there is a relatively high mortality
|
| World Health Organization
| Collates global mortality data using the International Classification of Diseases
| |
Disease | Common Cause
| Workers commonly at risk
|
Respiratory conditions (Asthma, Rhinitis, Extrinsic allergic alveolitis)
| A wide variety of chemicals
| Spray painters
Chemical process workers
|
| Flour dust
| Bakers |
| Animal waste products
| Laboratory and Animal workers
|
Allergic contact dermatitis | Hair dye, solvents and perfumes
| Hairdressers and beauticians
|
| Metals:
Nickel
Chromates and Cobalt
| Die casters (who mould metal)
Fashion industry workers
Cement workers, Leather workers
|
| Rubber:
Latex
| Carpet fitters, Car mechanics
Healthcare workers
|
| Resins:
Epoxy
Acrylic
|
Construction workers
Printers, Dental personnel
|
| Cutting oils
| Machine tool operators
|
| Formaldehyde:
Glues, Fibreboards
Cleaning products
Solvents
Embalming fluid
|
Construction workers
Cleaners
Dry cleaners
Undertakers
|
| Plants
| Florists and horticulturists
|
| Wood
| Carpenters |
4.56.Workplace allergens can trigger or exacerbate allergic diseases
(Table 3) and the only way to reduce the symptoms of disease is
through avoidance. However, even complete avoidance of the allergy
aggravating factor may not necessarily result in complete remission
of signs and symptoms, as the HSE reported that respiratory allergies
may "persist once they have become established" (p 9).
Where avoidance is not possible, patients may be advised to give
up their job yet Professor Newman Taylor told us that a lack of
retraining schemes meant that "between a third and a half
of cases of occupational asthma remain unemployed three to five
years later" (Q 280).