Linking migration and hospital data in England: linkage process and evaluation of bias.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Difficulties ascertaining migrant status in national data sources such as hospital records have limited large-scale evaluation of migrant healthcare needs in many countries, including England. Linkage of immigration data for migrants and refugees, with National Health Service (NHS) hospital care data enables research into the relationship between migration and health for a large cohort of international migrants.

Objectives

We aimed to describe the linkage process and compare linkage rates between migrant sub-groups to evaluate for potential bias for data on non-EU migrants and resettled refugees linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) in England.

Methods

We used stepwise deterministic linkage to match records from migrants and refugees to a unique hea

SUBMITTER: Burns R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10929707 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature