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DigiONE Pilot: COVID-19 study

Safe People

Organisation name

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT)

Organisation ID

grid.415967.8

Organisation sector

CQC Registered Health or/and Social Care provider

Applicant name(s)

Funders/ Sponsors

Safe Projects

Lay summary

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns disrupted healthcare systems around the world, causing serious delays in cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. During the peak of the pandemic, many people missed out on routine tests and were slower to seek care, either because services were paused or they were worried about catching the virus. These delays may lead to more advanced cancers being diagnosed later and could have long-term effects on cancer survival. This study used federated learning on data in the OMOP common data model to analyse data securely across countries. Using this approach, we looked at how the number of new cancer diagnoses changed before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdowns, and how this affected survival rates over the following years. Using anonymised data from cancer centres across Europe, the study aimed to understand both the short-term impact of the pandemic and how healthcare systems are recovering.

Public benefit statement

This study helps us understand the true impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care across Europe. By using routinely collected health data in a secure and privacy-preserving way, it shows how cancer diagnosis and treatment were affected and how systems have been recovering. The findings can help healthcare providers and policymakers respond more effectively to the backlog in care caused by the pandemic, improve planning for future emergencies, and ultimately support better outcomes for people with cancer.

Other approval committees

Latest approval date

01/03/2023

Safe Data

Dataset(s) name

National data opt-out applied?

Yes

Safe Setting

Access type

Federated analysis on OMOP database - no direct access to patient-level data

Safe Outputs

Link to research outputs