BACKGROUND: English national injury data collection systems are restricted to hospitalisations and @entity204 . With recent linkage of a large primary care database, the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), with secondary care and mortality data, we aimed to assess the utility of linked data for injury research and surveillance by examining recording patterns and comparing incidence of common @entity130 across data sources. METHODS: The incidence of @entity4968 , @entity174 and burns was estimated for a cohort of 2   147   853 0-24 year olds using CPRD linked to @entity580 ( @entity580 ) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) mortality data between 1997 and 2012. Time-based algorithms were developed to identify incident events, distinguishing between repeat follow-up records for the same injury and those for a new event. RESULTS: We identified 42   985 @entity4968 , 185   517 @entity174 and 36   719 burn events in linked CPRD- @entity580 -ONS data; incidence rates were 41.9 per 10   000 @entity1 -years (95% CI 41.4 to 42.4), 180.8 (179.8-181.7) and 35.8 (35.4-36.1), respectively. Of the @entity130 , 22   628 (53%) @entity4968 , 139   662 (75%) @entity174 and 33   462 (91%) burns were only recorded within CPRD. Only 16% of @entity204 from @entity4968 (n=106) or @entity174 (n=58) recorded in ONS were recorded within CPRD and/or @entity580 records. None of the 10 @entity204 from burns were recorded in CPRD or @entity580 records. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential to use linked primary care, hospitalisation and @entity204 data to estimate @entity130 , as many injury events are only captured within a single data source. Linked routinely collected data offer an immediate and affordable mechanism for injury surveillance and analyses of population-based injury epidemiology in England.

Identification of incident @entity4968 , XXXX and burn events using linked primary care, secondary care and mortality data from England: implications for research and surveillance.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['person'] @entity174 :: ('MESH:D050723', 'Disease') :: ['fractures', 'fracture'] @entity4968 :: ('MESH:D011041', 'Disease') :: ['poisonings', 'poisoning'] @entity580 :: ('MESH:D003428', 'Disease') :: ['HES', 'Hospital Episode Statistics'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['deaths'] @entity130 :: ('MESH:D014947', 'Disease') :: ['injuries', 'injury burden']
@entity174 :: (MESH:D050723,Disease) :: ['fracture']
