Table 1

Summary of Database Characteristics

CharacteristicsQResearchRCGP Research & Surveillance Network CenterClinical Practice Research DatalinkUK Biobank
Established, y2003195719892006
GP practices, No.1,500 (increasing to 2,519 from Sept 2020)7001,841Partial cohort coverage
Current patient records as of Jan 1, 2020, No.10.6 million (21 million from Sept 2020)5 million14 million0.5 million
Coverage, countriesEngland, ScotlandEnglandAll of UKEngland, Scotland, Wales
Age groupsAllAllAll40-69 years at recruitment
Clinical systemEMIS WebEMIS Web, INPS Vision, TPP System OneEMIS Web, INPS VisionBespoke system
Birth registrationYesYesYesNo
Death registrationYesYesYesYes
Sociodemographic dataYesYesYesYes
EthnicityYesYesYesYes
Genome-wide genotyping dataNoNoNoYes
Geographical locationYesYesYesYes
Lab tests incl COVID-19 resultsYesYesYesYes
Anthropometric dataYesYesYesYes
Clinical signs and symptomsYesYesYesYes
Drugs prescribedYesYesYesYes
Radiology reportsYesYesYesNo
Hospital referralYesYesYesYes
Hospital diagnosisYesYesYesYes
GP attendancesYesYesYesPartial
Hospital attendanceYesYesYesYes
Additional key linkages to other data setsa
    Hospital episode statisticsYesYesYesNo
    HES outpatient dataYesYesYesNo
    HES accident and emergency dataYesYesYesNo
    HES diagnostic imaging data setYesYesYesNo
    Death registration data from the Office for National StatisticsYesYesYesYes
    Intensive care data set: ICNARC Case Mix ProgramYesNoPendingNo
URL for data accesshttps://www.qresearch.orghttps://www.qresearch.orghttps://www.cprd.comhttps://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/aboutbiobank-uk
  • COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; GP = general practitioner; HES = hospital episode statistics; ICNARC = Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre; INPS = In Practice Systems Limited; RCGP = Royal College of General Practitioners; TPP = The Phoenix Partnership.

  • Note: For more information see relevant websites. The data in these databases are likely to overlap (about 20% of patients will fall into at least 2 of the data sets). Additional governance and approvals will be needed to remove duplicate entries so that a single patient record and characteristics are included.

  • aFull lists available from each database on request.