Background:
The accurate identification and diagnosis of secondary hypertension is critical,especially while cardiovascular heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death. To develop a big data
intelligence platform for secondary hypertension using
electronic medical records to contribute to
future basic and clinical research.
Methods:
Using
hospital data, the platform, named Hypertension DATAbase at Urumchi (UHDATA),
included patients diagnosed with hypertension at the People’s Hospital of
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region since December 2004. The
electronic data acquisition system, the database synchronization technology, and
data warehouse technology (extract–transform–load, ETL) for the scientific
research big data platform were used to synchronize and extract the data from
each business system in the hospital. Standard data elements were established for
the platform, including demographic and medical information. To facilitate the
research, the database was also linked to the sample database system, which
includes blood samples, urine specimens, and tissue specimens.
Results:
From December 17,
2004, to August 31, 2022, a total of 295,297 hypertensive
patients were added to the platform, with 53.76% being males, with a mean age of
59 years, and 14% with secondary hypertension. However, 75,802 patients visited
the Hypertension Center at our hospital, with 43% (32,595 patients) being
successfully diagnosed with secondary hypertension. The database contains 1458
elements, with an average fill rate of 90%.
The database can continuously include the data for new
hypertensive patients and add new data for existing hypertensive patients,
including post-discharge follow-up information, and the database updates every 2
weeks. Presently, some studies that are based on the platform have been
published.
Conclusions:
Using computer
information technology, we developed and implemented a big database of
dynamically updating electronic medical records for patients with hypertension,
which is helpful in promoting future research on secondary
hypertension.