Ambient Air Pollution, Health and Prescriptions in Northern Ireland
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Ambient Air Pollution, Health and Prescriptions in Northern Ireland
IRAS ID
274746
Contact name
Neil Rowland
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study will investigate the individual-level association between outdoor air pollution exposure in Northern Ireland and health using data on receipt of medications as a measure of health. Air pollution is a known environmental risk factor for public health. Yet while much research has sought to understand the nature of its impact, there are many unresolved questions, particularly around its role in lesser studied illnesses such as dementia, Parkinson's and diabetes. This study will contribute to this health literature by linking Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) data to Enhanced Prescriptions Database (EPD) data. The NILS is a large-scale, representative data-linkage study created by linking data from the Northern Ireland Health Card Registration system - for approximately 28% of the Northern Ireland population, or roughly 500,000 individuals - to the 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 Census returns and to administrative data from other sources. The EPD contains data on prescriptions issued by General Practices (GPs) in Northern Ireland. In this study, prescriptions for medicines used to treat the following conditions will be used: (1) the cardiovascular system; (2) the respiratory system (3) Parkinson's disease; (4) diabetes; (5) and dementia. Air pollution exposure, represented using modelled air pollution data created at a 1x1 km grid square resolution, will be assigned to each participant's anonymised household address contained in the NILS.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
20/NI/0050
Date of REC Opinion
24 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion