bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sexual crime against children with disabilities: a nationwide prospective birth cohort-study
Authors: Christoffersen Mogens
Published: November 2019

Background The rate of violent and sexual victimization against children with disabilities is thought to be lower than the rate for children without disabilities but several studies shows otherwise.

Aims The study focuses on examining sexual crime against children with disabilities and explaining differences in victimization in order to elucidate to what extent types of disability, family disadvantages, gender, high-risk behavior, location influences adolescents’ risk of sexual victimization. Previous population studies lack scientifically sound research methodology and results are weak or inconclusive.

Method data is based on a national study of reported sexual crime against children in Denmark aged between 7 and 18 years of age using total birth cohorts (N=678,000). The statistical analysis is a discrete time Cox-model. An extended list of potential risk factors was included in the analysis in order to adjust for confounding. The potentially confounding risk-factors were collected independently from various population-based registers, e.g. employment statistics, housing statistics, education statistics, income compensation benefits, and population statistics (e.g. gender, age, location). Hospital records with information on types of disability based on the national inpatient register and national psychiatric register were collected independently of the collection of law enforcements records about reported sexual offences under the Danish Central Crime Register.

Results Children with disabilities are more likely to be victimized of a reported sexual crime than non-disabled children: ADHD odds ratio: 3.7 (3.5-3.9), mental retardation: 3.8 (3.6-4.0), autism 3.8 (3.6-4.0).

Conclusion The present study finds that family disadvantage e.g.parental substance abuse, parental violence, family separation, the child in care, and parental unemployment indicate an increased risk of being a victim of a sexual crime.

Assessment of risk factors may permit professionals to facilitate prevention and treatment interventions. The study underreports the size of the problem because adolescents with disabilities face barriers when reporting victimization.
Linked Administrative Data at Statistics Canada – new data resources for horizontal research
Authors: Xue Li
Published: November 2019

There has been an increasing demand for analytics and research related to cross-cutting and horizontal issues in Canada, such as in the domains of housing, aging and immigration. Very often policy makers and stakeholders are posing a full spectrum of questions around a specific topic, requiring multidisciplinary evidence and data. Statistics Canada has a long history of record linkage. Over the past decade, the number of record linkage projects has increased exponentially. Several established platforms have been developed to facilitate linkage – Canadian Employer and Employer Database which brings together tax and employment records from both employees and employers; the Social Data Linkage Environment created to support linkages at the individuals level across a broad spectrum of social data (health, justice, education, socio-economic); and the Linkable File Environment for business data.

The breadth of our data holdings married with record linkage capabilities allows the creation of data sets that crosses disciplines and areas or research. This presentation will showcase the innovative data integration approaches that Statistics Canada has advanced to meet the inter-disciplinary data needs.

Statistics Canada are pioneering in some innovative linkages across various domains to help answer cross-cutting questions. For example, Longitudinal Administrative Databank linking longitudinal tax records to numerous other data files including tax records of spouses and children in the household, longitudinal Immigration Database linkage key and health records, is used to study economic impact of hospitalization, as well as better understand health outcomes of immigrants by various dimensions including socio-economic status. Other examples include the pilot projects linking Canadian Financial Capability Survey to tax records, to gauge the relationship between financial literacy and annual retirement savings behavior and Intergenerational Income Database being linked to Census to understand socio-economic factors affecting the intergenerational mobility.

Rapid growth in data availability for research also poses new challenges on IM/IT, governance, access, capacity building, etc. As Statistics Canada has moved on a path of modernization, data integration is key to the development of new data sources to fill information gaps as we move forward.
Careers Guidance and Transitions to Further Education in Wales
Authors: Huxley Katy , Davies Rhys , Yunus Suhaer
Published: November 2019

There is a general agreement that receiving appropriate and timely careers guidance enhances the likelihood of an individual’s participation in post-compulsory education. However, little is understood about how careers guidance influences the choices of learners. This paper explores the educational journey of learners’ who enrol within the Further Education sector in Wales, analysing whether the receipt of careers guidance is in anyway associated with these outcomes. This study utilises the linked database of school and pupil records, combining information from the Welsh National Pupil Database (NPD) with individual learner records from the Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR) for young people who are registered at post-compulsory education providers, combined with anonymised client information held by Careers Wales. Data for two cohorts of Year 11 pupils (2012/13 and 2013/14) who subsequently enrolled in courses within the FE sector during the following academic year is analysed. Multivariate analysis reveals that, as expected, there is a strong link between GCSE attainment and learning aims at FE. However, the analysis also suggests that receipt of careers guidance may encourage learners to make choices at FE that are more commensurate with their abilities. Those with higher levels of attainment are also more likely to enrol on higher level learning programmes if they have also been in receipt of careers guidance. Likewise, those with low levels of attainment at GCSE are more likely to enrol on learning programmes with lower qualification aims if they have been in receipt of careers guidance. Receiving careers guidance through interviews increased the likelihood of registering on WBL programmes. Furthermore, learners on WBL programmes who have received careers guidance are less likely to withdraw from their courses early. The study offers important insights as to the role of career guidance in supporting young people in their transitions to post-compulsory education.
The use of Administrative Data to combat non-response
Authors: Moore Matthew , Rutherford Alasdair , Douglas Elaine , Bell David
Published: November 2019

Background The issues arising due to participant non-response are problematic for many surveys. An international trend of falling survey response rates has led to more researchers questioning the extent to which non-response can cause issues with analysis, and what can be done to combat this non-response. Non-response weighting is a common method used by surveys, however the construction of these weights can rely upon untested assumptions and low quality and quantity of data. Administrative data can provide new opportunities in survey design, including improved construction of non-response weights, allowing better survey-based estimates.

Main Aim In this paper we explore the potential of using administrative data from the sampling frame of a large social survey to model non-response. The data used for this paper is part of the Healthy Aging in Scotland (HAGIS) Survey.

Methods The HAGIS pilot wave collected a sample of approximately 1000 individuals aged over 50 in the Scottish mainland. HAGIS utilised administrative data in the sampling with screening being provided to select households with at least one eligible respondent (over 50). Administrative data were also available for the full sample, and not just respondents to the HAGIS pilot wave. The administrative data consists of individual demographics, hospital admissions, and prescription data held by NHS Scotland.

Results Survey response is modelled as a function of explanatory variables from the administrative data in order to examine whether there is systematic demographic and health-based non-response in the survey. We further examine whether this non-response is causing significant biases and then how health data might predict non-response.

Conclusion Finally, we discuss how these models could be used in improving conventional weighting techniques to combat non-response in survey design.
Spatially Enabling The Master Linkage Map – Getting Straight To The Point
Authors: Stokes Brian , Albion Tim , Wiggins Nadine
Published: November 2019

Background with rationaleIn recent years, rapid advancements in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software has provided a range of users with an array of options to visually represent multiple digital data assets and for a range of purposes. The research community is increasingly able to represent complex data assets spatially to identify patterns in the population specific to burden of disease or for other reasons.

Main AimTo develop a methodology and software solution to effectively attribute spatial coordinates at a unit record level to data held in the Tasmanian Data Linkage Units (TDLU) Master Linkage Map (MLM). A further requirement was to support an integrated process of clerical review to enable incorrect or missing address information to be corrected.

Methods/Approach The Australian government makes available a geocoded address database for end users including Australian businesses, education and government. Known as the G-NAF (Geocoded National Address File), the database contains in excess of 30 tables for over 13 million principal Australian addresses. The TDLU developed software that extracts data held in its MLM and processes using the G-NAF to derive and store multiple spatial data elements.

ResultsThe TDLU has achieved in excess of 92% automated geocoding to address level for all records held in its MLM. Extensive metadata is produced, analysed and stored and used for many reasons including quality assurance. The release of spatial information, together with linkage keys, is strictly managed in accordance with Human Research Ethic Committee and custodian approvals.

ConclusionThe TDLU’s custom designed spatial information system has proven effective in both automatically allocating spatial coordinates for records held in its MLM, and for supporting review of missing or incorrect address information. Generating and storing spatial data at a unit record level enables the effective allocation of a range of geographic elements, population data and indices including measures of socio-economic disadvantage.
The Office for National Statistics Administrative Data Methods Research Programme
Authors: Shenton Claire , Tinklet Lucy , Finselbach Hannah
Published: November 2019

The quantity of administrative data created, stored and processed in the world has grown exponentially over recent years, but the statistical theory to support its use in official statistics has not. That’s not to say that within the statistical community we are not using or investigating a wide variety of statistical sources, but the methods used are not based on well-established theory like we have for surveys. As a National Statistical Institute (NSI), we are transforming to put administrative and alternative data sources at the core of our statistics. Combining new sources with surveys will allow us to meet the ever-increasing user demand for improved and more detailed statistics. However, using administrative data involves addressing a range of statistical challenges as identified in “Statistical challenges of administrative and transaction data” (Hand, 2018).

The Administrative Data Methods Research Programme was set up to address these challenges by developing a statistical framework for using and integrating administrative and transactional data to produce official statistics and analysis. The key themes of the programme include quality, linkage, privacy, estimation, statistical design, analysis and innovative techniques.

The programme will ensure the rigor and assurance of methods developed, allowing where possible wide-reaching application, and to create and share best practice and guidance. A key part of this programme will be engaging and working collaboratively with the statistical community in academia, government and private sector to help prioritise the challenges, shape the work programme and drive the work forward.
Common Mental Disorder across Standard Occupational Classifications in Northern Ireland: an administrative data study
Authors: Ferry Finola , Roasto Michael , Curran Emma , Leavey Gerard
Published: November 2019

Background While employment in general promotes positive health and wellbeing, a number of studies show disparities in mental health across occupational groupings (Bell et al., 2014; Stansfield et al. 2011). However, definitive studies to allow estimation of prevalence and risk across a range of occupation types require large population sub-groups and common measures of mental health.

AimWe hypothesise: (1) we will detect differences in the prevalence of Common Mental Disorder (CMD) across occupational groupings; and (2) risk of CMD across occupation types is moderated by family demands.

MethodsUsing linked administrative data we examine CMD among the Northern Ireland (NI) adult population across Standard Occupational Classifications (SOCs). We also examine the influence of socio-demographic, socio-economic and health-related variables. Data is accessed through the Administrative Data Research Centre NI (ADRC-NI) and comprises the individual and household 2011 Census; Land and Properties Services data; Enhanced Prescribing Database and Multiple Deprivation Measures.

ResultsExamination of nine major SOC groups shows the prevalence of any self-reported (SR) mental health condition was highest among ‘elementary trades and related occupations’ (24.63%) followed by ‘process, plant and machine operatives’ (23.65%). The risk of mental ill health among these groups remained elevated for both men and women after controlling for age, sex, marital status and educational attainment. Analyses based on the 90 sub-minor SOC groups shows that ‘textiles and garments trades’ workers had the highest prevalence of a SR mental health condition (36.15%). Logistic regression analyses shows that individuals with dependent children and informal caregiving responsibilities had lower risk of a SR mental health condition (OR=0.75, CI=0.73, 0.76 and OR=0.81, CI=0.79, 0.82 respectively).

ConclusionResults presented in this abstract are based on preliminary analyses using self-reported mental health. Further analyses based on mental health prescription data will subsequently be undertaken and presented at the ADR conference.
Using administrative data sources to better understand student migration and circular travel patterns
Authors: Spilsbury Rebecca
Published: November 2019

The ONS is transforming the way we produce migration statistics, to better meet our users’ needs. We are currently progressing a transformation programme to put administrative data at the core of our evidence on international migration.

We currently use the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to produce estimates of international migration to and from the UK. Our new analysis of circular patterns of movement using Home Office administrative data clearly demonstrates the complexity of the travel patterns we see in the data. Looking at individuals who arrived in the UK on non-visit visas and their travel patterns for the following two-year period, we were able to identify a range of circular journeys into and out of the country.

There is therefore potential to produce statistics on circular migration in future, so we are exploring how we can do this using linked administrative data.

Main Aim

To analyse circular travel patterns and see how these migrants may fit into our traditional definitions of international migrants

To obtain the most common visa types, travel patterns, nationality and length of stay.

To produce counts of potential circular migrants.

We have analysed a three-year extract of Home Office Exit Checks data to identify circular patterns of movement for non-EU nationals whose journey started on a non-visit visa.

We published our first outputs in January 2019, where we categorised people by how frequently they travelled, length of stay and demographic information. Since then we have investigated short-term circular journeys and determined common visa types, counts and travel patterns.

Circular migrants are not a homogenous group as they have wide-ranging travel patterns. The results from this exploratory analysis have provided evidence of short-term migrant travel patterns which will aid our understanding of these migrant movement types.
Social services Interventions and the Mental Health and Mortality of care leavers: a population based data linkage study in Northern Ireland and Finland
Authors: Maguire Aideen , Kouvonen Anne , O'Reilly Dermot , Remes Hanna , Pitkänen Joonas , Martikainen Pekka
Published: November 2019

BackgroundResearch has highlighted the poor mental health of looked after children compared to those never in care. However, little is known on what becomes of these children and their mental health trajectories after they leave the care of social services. In addition, previous studies are limited in their ability to differentiate between type of social care intervention received; kinship care, foster care or residential care.

AimTo utilise nationwide social services data from two countries (Northern Ireland (NI) and Finland), with similar populations but different intervention policies, linked to a range of demographic and health datasets to examine the mental health outcomes of young adults in the years following leaving care.

MethodsData from both countries on children born 1991-2000 were linked to social services data, hospital admissions, prescribed medication data and death records. Mental health outcomes were defined after the age of 18years (when statutory care provision ends) examined by care intervention and included admissions to psychiatric hospital, for self-harm and death by suicide.

ResultsThe gender split in care in Finland is reflective of the population but more males are in care in NI. Initial results from Finnish data suggest those exposed to care in childhood have an increased risk of self-harm, psychiatric hospital admission and suicide after the age of 18years compared to those never in care. After adjusting for gender, age of entry to care and deprivation at birth those exposed to any care intervention had 3 times the risk of suicide (HR=3.06, 95% CI 1.18,7.98). Risk increased with duration in care but was equivalent across care intervention types. Analysis on the NI data is underway.

ConclusionFull results will be available December 2019 and will explore which care pathways are most associated with poor mental health outcomes informing discussion around intervention opportunities and policy.
The safety of Waterbirth in the UK: a feasibility study of routine data linkage – The POOL Study
Authors: Lugg-Widger Fiona , Barlow Christian , Cannings-John Rebecca , Gale Chris , Milton Rebecca , Robling Mike , Sanders Julia
Published: November 2019

BackgroundPOOL is a cohort study designed to establish whether waterbirth, compared to leaving a pool prior to birth, is as safe for mothers and infants. It is a novel case study using routine maternity and neonatal data for research purposes, including the adaptation and addition of locally collected electronic data at sites.

AimWe aimed to establish the feasibility of the study design, which combines data from maternity information systems(MIS) and neonatal data using a dissent-based linkage model and the addition of new variables into the MIS.

MethodsThe study will utilise individual level data entered into local MIS at 30 NHS Trusts linked with the National Neonatal Research Database(NNRD). New variables were added to one pilot site before rolling out to the remaining sites. A third party added the new variables, extracted data from the MIS to send to the study team and transferred data for matching to the NNRD, ensuring the study team receive only anonymised data. The feasibility study aimed to establish the quality and completion of the newly added variables, the levels of missingness for key outcomes from an extract of 4 years of retrospective data, and ensured the datasets could link using the study ID generated by our third party.

ResultsThe new variables were added into the MIS and data were extracted after a 10week pilot. New variables were present and had been entered as per specified metadata requirements. 23,140 records were extracted from the retrospective data and key variables assessed for missingness e.g.place of birth(<0.1% missing). The datasets could link using the studyID generated by the third party.

ConclusionThrough study set-up and in this pilot, we provide evidence that the main study is feasible, satisfies governance requirements and likely to generate data of sufficient quality to address our main research questions.
Using record linkage to test representativeness of an ageing cohort
Authors: Burns Frances , McKelvie Mische , Cruise Sharon , O'Reilly Dermot
Published: November 2019

Background with rationaleThe numbers of older people are rising faster than any other group in society and Governments need to develop policies that will help older people stay as healthy and independent as possible for as long as possible. To do this they need to know what shapes the lives and health of older people and how they respond to their changing social, financial and health circumstances. Many countries are now investing in large and expensive ageing cohorts as omnibus studies to better understand the ageing processes and perhaps indicate how society can best prepare for an ageing population. These ageing cohorts (of people aged 50 and over) are invariably drawn from population-wide sampling frames and claim to be representative of the older populations, despite limitations in the sampling frame and modest response rates.

AimThe aim of this study was to examine the representativeness of the Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Ageing (NICOLA) cohort through linkage to administrative health and demographic data. Specifically, to determine if there were any age, sex, or area of residence differences in NICOLA participants and whether they were healthier than the rest of the population in terms of recent hospital attendance or proximity to care home admission and/or death. Logistic regression will be used to compare characteristics of participants and the rest of the Northern Ireland population aged 50 and over.

Data/MethodsAn identifier for each of the 8504 NICOLA Wave 1 participants was attached to the Health-card registration system which contains the HCN (the unique identifier) and thence to databases holding hospital admissions, mortality records and admissions to a care home.

ResultsThe data are currently in the safe setting, with analysis starting this week, and results expected early autumn.
Research Ready Data Lakes: Protecting Privacy in Relatable Datasets
Authors: McMillan Robert , Reeves Maggie
Published: November 2019

Background with rationaleThe Georgia Policy Labs’ mission is to improve outcomes for children and families by producing rigorous research with long-term government partners. A key component of this model is having secure access to research-ready, individual level data from multiple sources to answer government agencies’ questions within policy windows. Obtaining sensitive data from our partners requires significant relationship building, demonstrations of value, and assurances of our ability to mitigate all security and privacy concerns.

Objectives

Securely transfer and de-identify disparate individual level datasets with personally identifiable information from public entities.

Clean data and store in a pristine data lake, made available for fast turn-around research.

Ensure individual records can be matched across disparate organizations’ datasets.

ApproachOur practices, infrastructure, data sharing agreements and security are built to support the intersection of data availability for researchers and security standards that give our partners ease. We highlight two solutions addressing security concerns while supporting our researchers, which can be used by other researchers using sensitive data. First, we discuss our multiple tiers of transfer and access that remove risk from identifiable data. Second, we share the double hash solution created for a partner who was not willing to share PII. We share the source code for our SHA3-512 double hash solution, which allows for matching of records across disparate datasets without receiving PII sensitive elements.

ResultsWe created reliable matching values without the need for the actual social security numbers or other PII values on our side, enabling a large school district to share its student-level data with us.

ConclusionThe balance of security and easy access for researchers is a common area of friction. Our security set-up and hashing solution allows others to remove this barrier for applied policy research.
Epilepsy Mortality in Wales: 2005-2017
Authors: Daniels Helen , Lacey Arron , Akbari Ashley , Powell Rob , Pickrell Owen
Published: November 2019

BackgroundEpilepsy is a common, chronic neurological condition that affects 50 million people worldwide. The risk of premature death in people with epilepsy is up to three times higher than for the general population making this disease a significant public health concern. In England, there are around 3,100 deaths associated with epilepsy each year; 49 per cent of these deaths are premature. The mortality of epilepsy in Wales in recent years is currently unknown.

Main Aim To ascertain mortality figures for deaths associated with epilepsy in Wales.

MethodWe anonymously linked the Annual District Death Extract and the Welsh Demographics Service datasets within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank. Using ICD-10 codes for epilepsy, we identified all people who died with a mention of epilepsy on their death certificate, date of their death, and age at death between 2005 and 2017. Number of deaths per year were summed for each year. We also calculated the proportion of premature deaths and mean age at death for each year. All-cause mortality figures were collated as comparators.

ResultsDuring the study period, there were around 173 deaths associated with epilepsy in Wales each year. The proportion of epilepsy-associated deaths compared with all-cause deaths increased almost two-fold during this time. 54% of all deaths associated with epilepsy occurred under the age of 75 years, compared with 33 per cent of all-cause deaths. The mean age at death for people with epilepsy is 67 years; 11 years younger than all-cause deaths (78 years).

ConclusionThe number of deaths associated with epilepsy is increasing every year in Wales. These figures also show that having epilepsy reduces life expectancy. More research is needed into the causes of epilepsy-associated deaths to inform policy and improve outcomes for this patient group.
Allocating Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) to general practitioner-recorded patient addresses using a deterministic address-matching algorithm: evaluation of representativeness and bias in an ethnically-diverse inner city population
Authors: Harper Gill , Stables David , Boomla Kambiz , Robson John , Fry Richard , Ahmed Zaheer , Dezateux Carol
Published: November 2019

Background with rationalePseudonymised UPRNs based on patient addresses can be used to link environmental information to electronic health records (EHRs), however the representativeness and potential demographic or health-related biases in linkage using existing address-matching algorithms have not been evaluated using patient addresses.

Main AimTo evaluate representativeness and bias in assigning UPRNs using an address-matching algorithm based on general practitioner (GP)-recorded patient addresses for a geographically-defined multi-ethnic inner city population.

MethodsWe evaluated the Discovery Programme deterministic address-matching algorithm, comprising 213 rules applied, in rank order of minimising false positives, to the GP-recorded address of 879,286 (48% female) patients currently registered with all GP practices in four boroughs in inner east London.

We used logistic regression to estimate the adjusted odds (aOR) of an address not being linked to a UPRN by: age band (reference group: <1 year), sex (female), ethnic group (White British), Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile (most deprived), number of long-term conditions (none); and timing of GP registration (most recent quartile). We evaluated the linkage and algorithm error rates in an independent validated NHS address dataset using best practice linkage reporting standards.

Results99% of patients had a UPRN assigned. Men (aOR;95%CI:0.87;0.8,0.91), and patients aged 15-19 (0.51;0.39,0.68), 20-24 (0.67;0.51,0.89), or ≥90 years (0.35;0.83,0.91), of Chinese ethnic background (95% CI; 0.50; 0.45,0.56), or living in the least deprived IMD quintile (0.24; 0.20,0.30) were less likely, and those with a GP-registration preceding mid-2016 (p-value0.00) more likely, to have a UPRN assigned. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive-values and F-measure of the algorithm were, respectively: 0.993, 0.019, 0.914, 0.204, and 0.9516.

ConclusionWe have demonstrated, for the first time, a high GP-address UPRN match rate and quantified error rates and biases for users. Further work is needed to investigate addresses in patients with more complex address histories.
Self-harm presentation across healthcare settings by sex in young people
Authors: Marchant Amanda , Turner Samantha , Balbuena Lloyd , Peters Evyn , Williams Dave , Lloyd Keith , Lyons Ronan , John Ann
Published: November 2019

BackgroundAccurate data on self-harm is crucial to suicide prevention efforts. It has been previously found that around twice as many people who self-harm seek help in primary care than in secondary care. Little is known about how contacts for self-harm differ across settings at a population level. This study utilised individual-level linked data across GP, Emergency Departments (ED), outpatients and hospital admissions examining contacts across settings and time by sex for self-harm in 10-24 year olds.

MethodsA whole-population based e-cohort study of routinely collected healthcare data was conducted. Rates of self-harm across settings over time by sex were examined. Individuals were categorised based on the service(s) to which they presented.

ResultsA total of 937,697 individuals aged 10-24 years contributed 5,369,794 person years of data from the 01.01.2003-30.09.2015. There were differences in self-harm contacts by demographic variables particularly with regards to sex and admissions to hospital following ED attendance.

ConclusionThis is the first study to compare self-harm in people aged 10-24 years across primary care, EDs, and hospital settings in the UK. The high rates of self-harm in primary care and for young men in EDs highlight these as important settings for intervention. Understanding patterns of presentation will inform service planning and configuration for follow-up care and could inform tailored support, for example for males in ED. Linked data provides important evidence to support the development of interventions across healthcare settings.
A Victim-Focused Response to Repeat Fraud and Computer Misuse Crimes: Challenges and Opportunities through Admin Data Linkage
Authors: Correia Sara
Published: November 2019

Background with rationaleThe volume of Fraud and Computer Misuse victimisation in the UK is estimated to be nearly equivalent to all other crime types combined. Alongside this, the Victims’ Charter establishes enhanced rights for vulnerable victims, a category which includes repeat victims, placing a responsibility on criminal justice agencies to assess vulnerability and respond accordingly. However, identifying repeat victimisation is challenging and the relationship between reported repeat victimisation and vulnerability requires empirical scrutiny.

Main aimThis presentation draws on PhD research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and conducted in collaboration with the Southern Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU), to profile victims of fraud and computer misuse in Wales. It presents the methodological challenges and lessons learnt from linking administrative crime records to identify and profile repeat victims of fraud and computer misuse across the four Welsh police forces.

Methods/ApproachThis research utilised a sample of all incidents reported within the Welsh police force areas over a period of two years (1st October 2014 to 30th September 2016). A mixture of exact and probabilistic matching was used to match records relating to the same victim, leveraging R’s RecordLinkage package in conjunction with Tidyverse. A variety of descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarise key relationships within the resulting linked dataset.

Results & ConclusionLinking crime records presents considerable methodological challenges related to data quality and the availability and accessibility of linkage tools. These difficulties impair the assessment of vulnerability which is demanded of criminal justice agencies. Despite their limitations however, crime records can be used to provide new insights into the nature of repeat victimisation and the characteristics of victims who report being repeatedly victimised.
Building a birth cohort of births and their outcome in England and Wales using linkage of administrative data
Authors: Macfarlane Alison , Dattani Nirupa
Published: November 2019

Background/rationaleWhen a baby is born in England and Wales, the event is recorded in several separate systems, each of which contains different data items. Data recorded at birth registration are mainly socio-demographic, while some different data items are recorded when the birth is notified to the NHS. The data recorded in hospital systems in England and in Wales about the majority of babies who are born in NHS maternity units are largely clinical.

Over a ten year period, a series of three collaborative projects have linked data about 7,013,804 births registered in 2005-14 to establish a birth cohort for use in research and national statistics and to quality assure the linkage. Data about outcomes of birth in terms of death and subsequent readmissions to hospital have also been linked in. The linked data are held in the Secure Research Service at the Office for National Statistics.

The data have been used for analyses of pattern of births by time of day, day of the week and season and in relation to obstetric intervention in labour and birth. They are now being used by other researchers.

strong>Challenges encounteredThere were major problems in accessing NHS data for England, compounded by intermittent availability of funding.

Lessons learnedDespite the many challenges, it proved feasible to construct a linked birth cohort which has increased the scope and range of national maternity data for England and Wales. NHS Digital’s opt-outs are causing gaps in national data and could invalidate linkage.

RecommendationsThe cohort should be updated with data for more recent years. Linkage should be undertaken within ONS by teams who are not subject to NHS Digital’s opt-out policy. Data access policies should reflect the higher public trust in research uses of NHS data compared to commercial uses.
How do numbers of births in England and Wales vary by time of day, day of the week and place of birth? An analysis using linked administrative data
Authors: Macfarlane Alison , Dattani Nirupa
Published: November 2019

BackgroundClinical policies have aimed at increase the proportion of births occurring during working hours on weekdays in the belief that this facilitates staffing and is safer for mothers and babies. Our recent analyses of hospital births have shown that that planned caesareans are concentrated into weekday mornings. In contrast, spontaneous births after spontaneous onset of labour are more likely in the hours after midnight, peaking from 4-6am. Births after induced labours are more likely in the hours around midnight.

Main AimTo compare the timing of births of births at home and elsewhere with timing in NHS hospitals.

MethodData from civil registration of births from 2005 to 2014 in England and Wales were linked to data recorded when newborn babies are notified to the NHS. Data about babies born in NHS maternity units were further linked to hospital data for England and for Wales. Data were analysed in the secure facilities of the Office for National Statistics’ Secure Research Service. Analysis was by place of birth recorded at birth registration.

ResultsNumbers of singleton births in freestanding midwifery units and at home were highest from midnight to 7am, peaking from 4am-6am. Births on non-hospital sites followed a similar pattern with a flatter peak from 4am-8am, but peaks in non-maternity hospitals tended to occur during mornings. Births in military hospitals had a sharp peak at 8am and births in private hospitals had a peak in the morning and then again in early and late afternoon.

ConclusionConclusion The small numbers of births in hospitals without maternity units or ‘elsewhere’ are unlikely to have occurred there intentionally, but the latter, along with home and midwifery unit births were more common at night. This has implications for staffing. A newly funded project will explore relative safety.
Understanding recurrent care proceedings: Competing risks of how mothers and fathers enter subsequent care proceedings in England
Authors: Bedston Stuart , Hu Yang , Philip Georgia , Youansamouth Lindsay , Brandon Marian , Broadhurst Karen , Clifton John
Published: November 2019

BackgroundDespite progress in understanding mothers' (re)appearances within family justice, fathers have not yet received due attention in research on recurrent care proceedings.

Aims

Compare parents' gendered risks of entering subsequent care proceedings;

Map family relations underpinning recurrent care proceedings;

Investigate the role of family members' life course characteristics (e.g. age, number of children) in shaping the risk of returning to court.

MethodsAnalysis drew on 2007/08-2017/18 administrative records from the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (Cafcass) in England. From a sample of recurrent parents (N = 24,460), a latent class analysis established profiles of who they returned with. A competing risks analysis of all parents (N = 165,550) modelled the risk of returning into each profile given index characteristics.

ResultsOverall rate of return for mothers was 1.7 times that of fathers: 22% after 5 years, compared to 13% for fathers, and 29% and 17% after 10 years, respectively.

Five distinct profiles of recurrent parents were established: 'recurrent family', 'recurrent couple', 're-partnered couple', 'complex recurrence', and 'lone parent'. The vast majority of fathers who entered subsequent proceedings did so as either a part of a recurrent family (41%) or recurrent couple (36%). However, these two profiles represented a much smaller proportion (25% and 19%, respectively) of all recurrent mothers, while the remainder returned with either a new partner or as a lone parent (49%), both with a new child. Complex recurrence represented a small proportion for both mothers and fathers (7% and 11%, respectively). The risk of each of these profiles is characterised by the distinct life course positions of the parent.

ConclusionThe results underscore the value of a relational approach and understanding a parent's position within the life course in social work research towards building a fuller picture of recurrence.
Regulating Statistics in the Age of Data Abundance
Authors: Bromley Catherine
Published: November 2019

Background with rationaleThe Office for Statistics Regulation is the UK’s independent regulator of official statistics produced by public sector bodies. The Code of Practice for Statistics sets out our expectations for statistics to be produced in a trustworthy way, be of high quality, and to serve the public good by informing answers to society’s important questions. We now live in a world of increasingly abundant data. Statistics producers need to adapt to this environment, and so do we as regulators.

ApproachThe Code of Practice was updated in 2018 with new provisions to maximise the potential use of data for both citizens and organisations, and to make data available for wider reuse with appropriate safeguards. We have supplemented our commitment to these provisions with a review of data sharing and linking in government, new regulatory guidance on data governance, an increased focus on data access challenges (particularly users of English health data), and by putting data at the heart of our regulatory vision (published in summer 2019). These steps build on our existing work around admin data quality.

OverviewThe National Statistician’s response to our data sharing and linkage review included many welcome commitments and a major review of data linkage methodology is now underway. A data linkage community is developing across government. However, we have raised concerns about ongoing difficulties with admin data sharing between departments, resource constraints, and the limited extent of public engagement about data sharing and use.

ConclusionsOur regulatory approach to data is evolving and we are building new relationships with organisations with an interest in data beyond the statistics world. Our work to support users to access admin data may yet require more direct interventions to bring about the outcomes we desire. We are keen to share our experiences with admin data users.
Better data, better knowledge, better society: Developing an ideal homelessness data system drawing on lessons from global practice
Authors: Thomas Ian , Mackie Peter
Published: November 2019

The aim of this paper is to set out the principles of an ideal data system. Good data is crucial to effective policy and practice development in all social policy spheres and this is a particular challenge in the context of homelessness policy. Policy makers, practitioners and researchers have been highly critical of the current state of homelessness data across the globe, with concerns largely focused on the incompleteness of the data. Most research has narrowly focused on the strengths and weaknesses of different data collection techniques, such as Point-In-Time counts. However, good data does not only derive from the data collection method - consideration must also be given to the wider data system, including how data are generated, reported, analysed, and crucially, how they are made accessible and to who.

The evidence base for the paper is a desk-based review of 49 data collection systems from 8 countries, including systems in health and social care settings—where data are being increasingly used to drive more effective care. The different systems are synthesised to generate 8 areas of design, being: data architecture, governance, data quality, ethical and legal, privacy/security, data access, and importantly, purpose. Drawing these elements together, the paper concludes that data collection should adopt a common data standard shared across the sector, enabling inter-organisational information sharing and improving collaboration; reporting to local and central government must not be one-sided, instead data providers should receive some tangible benefit for their engagement; the focus of analysis needs to shift from statistics toward evaluation into the effectiveness of interventions; and access must be available to a range of sector actors, including service providers and academia. Importantly, the paper also concludes that in delivering the ideal system, care must be taken not to interrupt the delivery of effective homelessness interventions.
Alberta's Data and Analytic Strategy: Leveraging Linked Data to Drive Innovation
Authors: Svenson Larry
Published: November 2019

BackgroundThe Province of Alberta, Canada, maintains a mature data environment with linkable administrative and clinical data dating back up to 30 years. Alberta has a single payer, publicly funded and administered, universal health system, which maintains multiple administrative data sets.

Main AimThe main aim of the strategy is to fully maximize the data assets in the province to drive health system health system innovation, with a focus on improving health outcomes and quality of life.

Methods/ApproachThe Alberta Ministry of Health has created the Secondary Use Data Access (SUDA) initiative to leverage its administrative health data. SUDA envisions strengthening partnerships between the public and private sectors through two main data access approaches. The first is direct access to de-identified data held within the Alberta Health data warehouse by key health system stakeholders (e.g. academic institutions, professional associations, regulatory colleges). The second is indirect access to private and not-for-profit organizations, using a data access safe haven (DASH) approach. Indirect access is achieved through private sector investments to a trusted third party that hires analysts placed within the Ministry of Health offices.

ResultsStaffing agreements and privacy impact assessments are in place. Indirect access includes a multiple stakeholder steering committee to vet and prioritize projects. Private and not-for-profit stakeholders do not have access to raw data, but rather receive access to aggregated data and statistical models. All data disclosures are done by Ministry staff to ensure compliance with Alberta's Health Information Act. Direct access has been established for one professional organization and one academic institution, with access restricted to de-identified data.

ConclusionThe Secondary Use Data Access initiative uses a safe haven approach to leveraging data to provide a more secure approach to data access. It reduces the need to provision data outside of the data warehouse while improving timely access to data. The approach provides assurances that people's health information is held secure, while also being used to create health system improvements.