Queen Mary University of London

3

OFHS240201

The study has three main goals: 1. To check if the health conditions people report on Our Future Health questionnaire match the diagnoses in their medical records (like hospital records or cancer registries). 2. To see if it is possible to measure the use of hospital services by adults living with chronic conditions using the linked datasets provided by Our Future Health. 3. To look at which patient characteristics affect the use of hospital resources in adults with chronic conditions. Chronic conditions, like chronic kidney disease, and cancers are major reasons of hospital visits. However, few research measured the amount of NHS hospital resources used by patients with these chronic conditions. Surveys responses linked to medical records such as Our Future Health are potentially useful to measure these resources. Unfortunately, there can be differences between what people report about their health in surveys and what are recorded in medical records. Such differences can affect research quality. In this study, we will compare the self-reported health conditions in Our Future Health survey with those in the medical records. We will then analyse the amount of hospital resources (like hospital admissions, A&E visits) used by people with chronic conditions. We will start with chronic kidney disease and cancers, and If time and resources permit, expand to other chronic conditions. We will also explore individual characteristics that may affect the amount of hospital resources used. By doing this, we expect to inform how researchers use the self-reported diagnoses in Our Future Health questionnaire in the future. Our findings will also inform policy makers, and researchers on resource planning for these conditions

As people live longer, the number of people living with chronic conditions has been rising and will continue to rise. This makes it important to understand how people living with chronic conditions use healthcare resources. We will compare the self-reported diagnoses collected in Our Future Health against those in routinely collected medical records. The findings on accuracy of self-reported diagnoses will help other researchers decide how to analyse questionnaire data from Our Future Health. The findings on hospital resource use by people living with chronic conditions (initially chronic kidney disease and cancers which may expand to others if time permits) can be used by the NHS to allocate resources for the health services. Understanding the factors that influence health outcomes and resource use will provide the NHS with valuable insights into how individual characteristics affect health. This knowledge could guide policies to address health inequalities.

Public Health Research

13/03/2025

13/03/2025

TRE