A maternal and child health administrative cohort in Scotland: the utility of linked administrative data for understanding early years' outcomes and inequalities.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The early years are considered one of the most impactful points in the life course to intervene to improve population health and reduce health inequalities because, for example, both ill health and social disadvantage can track into adulthood. Scotland's outstanding systems for data linkage offer untapped potential to further our understanding of when and why inequalities in child health, development and wellbeing emerge. This understanding is vital for the consideration of policy options for their reduction.

Methods

Birth registrations, hospital episodes, dispensed community prescriptions, child health reviews and immunisation records were linked for 198,483 mother-child pairs for babies born in Scotland from October 2009 to the end of March 2013, followed up u

SUBMITTER: Henery P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11977605 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature