Linkable administrative files: Family information and existing data

Abstract

Linkable administrative data have facilitated research incorporating files from various government departments. Examples from Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom highlight the possibilities for improving such work. After expanding on comparisons of linkable administrative data with several famous studies, we forward suggestions on improving research design and expanding use of family data. Certain characteristics of administrative data: large numbers of cases, many variables for each individual, and information on parents and their children, provide building blocks for implementing these proposals. Traditional longitudinal epidemiological approaches can be modified to facilitate a quasiexperimental perspective. Incorporating multiple research designs within the same project handles threats to validity more easily. Family data provide a number of opportunities for both samegeneration and intergenerational research. Risk factors associated with a number of conditions can be studied. Bad events can affect all family members, and cross-sectoral information can extend analyses beyond health to include educational outcomes. Parent/child linkages suggest several lines of research exploring within-family relationships. Complicated data call for family identification systems to estimate project practicality. Manitoba administrative data are presented to illustrate one such system. Problems in maintaining core data element -such as marital status -have been highlighted. The productivity and potential of crosssectional, longitudinal, and life course research using existing information have emphasised the value of investments in such work.

Suicide Attempts and Completions among Mothers Whose Children Were Taken into Care by Child Protection Services: A Cohort Study Using Linkable Administrative Data

“…The use of the population-based repository at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy offers significant strengths, including a large sample size, minimal attrition, and a large number of predictors over many years. 50 Study limitations concern unmeasured confounders and the measurement of variables. This study only captures physician-treated mental illness.…”

Effect of Study Duration and Outcome Measurement Frequency on Estimates of Change for Longitudinal Cohort Studies in Routinely-Collected Administrative Data

“…These data, which are collected for purposes other than research (i.e. for secondary purposes), typically capture information for entire populations and can be linked at the individual-level to create longitudinal profiles for studying a wide range of health and social issues [1]. Population-based cohorts to examine the long-term effects of various events and interventions are regularly created from administrative data.…”

“…Participant response burden is no longer a relevant issue. However, increasing study duration may result in a decreased cohort size as individuals are lost to follow up because of death, migration, and/or loss of health insurance coverage [1]; this could also introduce selection bias into the study [6]. Decreased cohort size may negatively impact statistical power and precision of estimates of change.…”

Multigenerational Health Research using Population-Based Linked Databases: An International Review

“…Population registries and health insurance registries are the primary sources of information about familial structures at these six sites. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden primarily use population registries to determine family structures [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]; Manitoba and Taiwan use health insurance registries [8,[22][23][24][25] to determine family structures. The Western Australian Family Connections Genealogical Project uses linked birth, marriage, and death registries to determine familial relationships [26].…”

“…In the province of Manitoba in Canada, a health registration number is given to all immediate family members residing in the province, including the registrant, spouse (or common-law spouse), and all children who are dependent on the registrant, including child, step-child, incapacitated child (i.e., dependent beyond the age of 18), and grandchild [ 25 ]. Familial relationship information is also supplemented using birth records [ 24 ].…”