University College London

Academic Institute

No

CCU049

This project addresses two challenges we face in Long Covid research: 1. Identifying Long Covid patients using data from electronic health records is difficult, as only a small portion of patients were recorded as having a ‘post-Covid condition’. 2. The scale could be potentially higher, as around 12% of COVID-19 patients developed Long Covid, however, we have very little knowledge about the current healthcare utilisation in individuals with Long Covid. More importantly, we are unaware whether the current practice for Long Covid is the best option we have. This information is crucial for funding allocations, public policies and health care practice. To address these problems, this project will first try to identify individuals with Long Covid in electronic health records by using official codes available for diagnosis of Long Covid, finding GP visits or hospital visits after 12 weeks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and using clinical history and other features. Once people with Long Covid are identified, this project will explore their use of healthcare, by analysing primary care, admitted patient care, outpatients, procedures, tests and medication/prescription data, which will help the NHS or health care providers to plan more efficiently. We will also study the impact of vaccination, different waves of the pandemic. Some patients develop new cardiovascular disease, and we will particularly study the associated healthcare utilisation for this group.

Eventually, this project will evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of current care for those with Long Covid, which will help to identify any inefficiency in Long Covid care, provide better support to patients, and inform policy and resource allocation.

08/08/2022

De-Personalised

TRE