Severe Eosinophilic Asthma in Northern Ireland

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Using linked healthcare records to identify the prevalence, characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with Severe Eosinophilic Asthma in Northern Ireland

• IRAS ID

  277717

• Contact name

  Frank Kee

• Contact email

  f.kee@qub.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Queen's University Belfast

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Severe Eosinophilic Asthma (SEA)

  Severe Asthma is confirmed asthma that is poorly controlled despite maximum treatment available in primary care. This patient subgroup is difficult to diagnose and associated with significant morbidity.

  A proportion of patients with severe asthma have a disease subtype characterized by a raised blood eosinophil count known as Severe Eosinophilic Asthma (SEA). These patients are at increased risk of asthma attacks.

  Health Inequalities

  New specialist treatments which target blood eosinophils are now available and have been shown to reduce asthma attacks and improve symptoms for patients with SEA. However, there is significant inequality in access to specialist asthma care across the United Kingdom, with unacceptable variation in prevalence, frequency of exacerbation, and health outcomes across geography, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic groups.
  
  Data Linkage

  Asthma patients have healthcare records held in various databases throughout the Health and Social Care system. Linkage of these records into a single anonymised dataset presents a unique opportunity to better understand this high-risk subgroup and to shed light on how inequalities in care and outcomes might be mitigated.
  
  Study Aim

  We plan to the harness the unique benefits of linked Northern Ireland healthcare record data to determine the prevalence, characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with SEA in Northern Ireland. This novel proof of concept study could lead to improved clinical outcomes and pave the way for similar linkage studies for other conditions.

• REC name

  Wales REC 7

• REC reference

  20/WA/0042

• Date of REC Opinion

  28 Jan 2020

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion