B3602 - Linking observed mental health data with record linkage in ALSPAC - 21/08/2020

B number: 
B3602
Principal applicant name: 
Alex Kwong | IEU
Co-applicants: 
Dr Rebecca Pearson, Dr Dheeraj Rai, Dr Julian Walker, Andy Boyd, Ms Holy Fraser
Title of project: 
Linking observed mental health data with record linkage in ALSPAC
Proposal summary: 

The purpose of this project is to provide additional data for the project B3550 (antidepressant use and mental health) and collect new data as part of ALSPAC's mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This data will allow further examinination for the ongoing mental health work by ASPAC and can be used alongside record linkage data to examine patterns of mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are interested in examining if observed data from COVID-19 and the annual Questionnaire match patterns taken from health record data (i.e., are people who report poorer mental health accessing services). If these patterns do not match, it is important to determine why not and how people with poorer mental health are managing if not by accessing services. This will provide insights into alternative forms of treatment for poorer mental health in the pandemic. We have three main objectives. The first is to further describe patterns of mental health by building upon our earlier work using COVID 19 mental health data. The second is to link the observed mental health data with the health record linkage and examine outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic. The third is to provide additional data for B3550.

Impact of research: 
Change how mental health is treated in response to COVID-19. We have already influenced policy so this will be an extension of this work.
Date proposal received: 
Wednesday, 19 August, 2020
Date proposal approved: 
Wednesday, 19 August, 2020
Keywords: 
Mental health - Psychology, Psychiatry, Cognition, Mental health, Statistical methods, Methods - e.g. cross cohort analysis, data mining, mendelian randomisation, etc.