Co-prescribing of antidepressants and opioids for non-cancer pain in England, 2010-2019: a descriptive study using CPRD primary care electronic health records.

Background: There is a complex relationship between pain and mood disorders, and interactions between opioids and antidepressants can affect the effectiveness and adverse effects of these medicines when taken together. However, little is known about the scale of co-prescription for these medicines.

Methods: We used routinely collected primary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to describe the extent of opioid and antidepressant co-prescribing in over 4.

Seasonal trends in antidepressant prescribing, depression, anxiety and self-harm in adolescents and young adults: an open cohort study using English primary care data.

Background: There is an increasing demand for mental health services for young people, which may vary across the year.

Objective: To determine whether there are seasonal patterns in primary care antidepressant prescribing and mental health issues in adolescents and young adults.

Methods: This cohort study used anonymised electronic health records from general practices in England contributing to QResearch.

Frequency and impact of medication reviews for people aged 65 years or above in UK primary care: an observational study using electronic health records.

Background: Medication reviews in primary care provide an opportunity to review and discuss the safety and appropriateness of a person's medicines. However, there is limited evidence about access to and the impact of routine medication reviews for older adults in the general population, particularly in the UK. We aimed to quantify the proportion of people aged 65 years and over with a medication review recorded in 2019 and describe changes in the numbers and types of medicines prescribed following a review.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence of tics in children and young people: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, clinicians have reported an increase in presentations of sudden and new onset tics particularly affecting teenage girls. This population-based study aimed to describe and compare the incidence of tics in children and young people in primary care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in England.

Methods: We used information from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum dataset and included males and females aged 4-11 years and 12-18 years between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2021.

Findability of UK health datasets available for research: a mixed methods study.

Objective: How health researchers find secondary data to analyse is unclear. We sought to describe the approaches that UK organisations take to help researchers find data and to assess the findability of health data that are available for research.

Methods: We surveyed established organisations about how they make data findable.

The risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in people prescribed mirtazapine: an active comparator cohort study using electronic health records.

Background: Studies have reported an increased risk of mortality among people prescribed mirtazapine compared to other antidepressants. The study aimed to compare all-cause and cause-specific mortality between adults prescribed mirtazapine or other second-line antidepressants.

Methods: This cohort study used English primary care electronic medical records, hospital admission records, and mortality data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), for the period 01 January 2005 to 30 November 2018.

Secondary care specialist visits made by children and young people prescribed antidepressants in primary care: a descriptive study using the QResearch database.

Background: Antidepressants may be used to manage a number of conditions in children and young people including depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. UK guidelines for the treatment of depression in children and young people recommend that antidepressants should only be initiated following assessment and diagnosis by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. The aim of this study was to summarise visits to mental health specialists and indications recorded around the time of antidepressant initiation in children and young people in UK primary care.

Low salivary cortisol levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis exposed to oral glucocorticoids: a cross-sectional study set within UK electronic health records.

Background: Glucocorticoids (GCs) suppress endogenous cortisol levels which can lead to adrenal insufficiency (AI). The frequency of GC-induced AI remains unclear. In this cross-sectional study, low morning salivary cortisol (MSC) levels were used as a measure of adrenal function.

Exposure measurement error when assessing current glucocorticoid use using UK primary care electronic prescription data.

Purpose: To quantify misclassification in glucocorticoid (GC) exposure defined using UK primary care prescription data.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including patients with rheumatoid arthritis prescribed oral GCs in the past 2 years. Glucocorticoid exposure based on electronic prescription records was compared with participant-reported GC use captured using a paper diary.

Assumptions made when preparing drug exposure data for analysis have an impact on results: An unreported step in pharmacoepidemiology studies.

Purpose: Real-world data for observational research commonly require formatting and cleaning prior to analysis. Data preparation steps are rarely reported adequately and are likely to vary between research groups. Variation in methodology could potentially affect study outcomes.

Risks of smoking and benefits of smoking cessation on hospitalisations for cardiovascular events and respiratory infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Objectives: To investigate the associations between smoking status, smoking cessation and hospitalisations for cardiovascular events (CVE) and respiratory tract infections (RTI) in an inception cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: The study was set within UK primary care electronic health records (the Clinical Practice Research Datalink) linked to hospital inpatient data (Hospital Episode Statistics). Patients with RA were followed from diagnosis to hospitalisation with a record of CVE or RTI, leaving their general practice, death, or 10 January 2012, whichever was earliest.

Supplementing electronic health records through sample collection and patient diaries: A study set within a primary care research database.

Purpose: To describe a novel observational study that supplemented primary care electronic health record (EHR) data with sample collection and patient diaries.

Methods: The study was set in primary care in England. A list of 3974 potentially eligible patients was compiled using data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Smoking-Related Mortality in Patients With Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Objective: To investigate the association between smoking status and smoking cessation with mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: An incident cohort of patients with RA was identified using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, a database of UK primary care electronic medical records. Time-varying smoking status, years of cessation, and amount smoked were determined from patients' medical records.

Systemic glucocorticoid therapy and adrenal insufficiency in adults: A systematic review.

Objectives: The aim of this systematic literature review was to summarize the current knowledge regarding the prevalence of, time to recovery from, and influence of glucocorticoid dose and duration on glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency (AI).

Methods: Eligible studies were original research articles, which included adult patients with an indication for glucocorticoids and measured adrenal function following exposure to systemic glucocorticoids. Searches were performed in Web of Science and MEDLINE, with further articles identified from reference lists.

Half of U.K. patients with rheumatoid arthritis are prescribed oral glucocorticoid therapy in primary care: a retrospective drug utilisation study.

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shared care between rheumatologists and general practitioners (GPs). Rheumatologists guide immunosuppressive therapy, whilst GPs rely on analgesia and glucocorticoid (GC) therapy to manage active disease. The objective of this study was to describe patterns of GC prescribing for patients with RA in primary care and to determine the influence of patient characteristics and prescriber.