General Practice Research Database
Encyclopedia
The General Practice Research Database (GPRD) is a large database of anonymised medical records from GP
practices around the UK
. The database is considered by many to be the 'gold standard' of longitudinal anonymised patient databases from primary care. It has been used in over 600 clinical reviews and papers. The GPRD is the world's largest computerised database of anonymised patient data from general practice.
, Dr Alan Dean, to facilitate day-to-day management of his own general practice, in collaboration with IT staff at the BATA shoe factory in East Tilbury near to his practice. Early programmers included a Czech programmer Yan Boda. This was so successful that a venture capital company was set up in 1987 named Value Added Information Medical Products Ltd (VAMP) to recruit other practices and form an information base. The early development team of three, Marcella Devenish (formerly a midwife), Philip Lee-Warren (formerly a Senior Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer), under the leadership of Kieran O'Mally, developed further the computerised system using the BOS Microcobol development environment. During this period the number of UK practices using the software product IGP (Integrated General Practice) expanded from a few hundred to over two and a half thousand.
In November 1993, its parent company was acquired by Reuters Health Information
, which donated the database to the Department of Health in 1994, at which time it acquired its current name. Then the database was operated by the Office for National Statistics
until 1999, at which point the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) took over. This agency became the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA) on 1 April 2003 following a merger with the Medical Devices Agency (MDA). Since then, use of the database has expanded within the UK
and overseas. The GPRD is now a sub-division of the MHRA.
In 2007, GPRD announced a strategic alliance with IMS Health
, which incorporates GPRD and the IMS Disease Analyzer, resulting in the most comprehensive longitudinal anonymized patient-level data in Europe. Together, these two resources encompass medical treatment information for nearly 20 million anonymised patient lives.
The combined expertise of GPRD and IMS enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as governments, payers, providers and the financial and healthcare supply sectors, to make critical decisions about the impact of medicines in clinical practice across different healthcare systems.
A key difference with other UK Primary care databases, is that GPRD can be linked to external disease registries on an individual patient level. Registries include the hospital episode statistics, death certificates, the national cancer registry and MINAP (cardiovascular disease).
The head of research is Dr Tjeerd-Pieter van Staa, a pharmacoepidemiologist who is also affiliated to the Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Dr John Parkinson is the Director, GPRD
. The data is anonymised at the point of collection to protect the privacy of the individuals from whom the data comes.
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
practices around the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The database is considered by many to be the 'gold standard' of longitudinal anonymised patient databases from primary care. It has been used in over 600 clinical reviews and papers. The GPRD is the world's largest computerised database of anonymised patient data from general practice.
History
The GPRD was initially developed by an Essex general practitionerGeneral practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
, Dr Alan Dean, to facilitate day-to-day management of his own general practice, in collaboration with IT staff at the BATA shoe factory in East Tilbury near to his practice. Early programmers included a Czech programmer Yan Boda. This was so successful that a venture capital company was set up in 1987 named Value Added Information Medical Products Ltd (VAMP) to recruit other practices and form an information base. The early development team of three, Marcella Devenish (formerly a midwife), Philip Lee-Warren (formerly a Senior Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer), under the leadership of Kieran O'Mally, developed further the computerised system using the BOS Microcobol development environment. During this period the number of UK practices using the software product IGP (Integrated General Practice) expanded from a few hundred to over two and a half thousand.
In November 1993, its parent company was acquired by Reuters Health Information
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, which donated the database to the Department of Health in 1994, at which time it acquired its current name. Then the database was operated by the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
until 1999, at which point the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) took over. This agency became the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe....
(MHRA) on 1 April 2003 following a merger with the Medical Devices Agency (MDA). Since then, use of the database has expanded within the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and overseas. The GPRD is now a sub-division of the MHRA.
In 2007, GPRD announced a strategic alliance with IMS Health
IMS Health
IMS Health is an international company that supplies the pharmaceutical industry with sales data and consulting services. IMS Health was founded in 1954 by Bill Froch and David Dubow. Today IMS has operations in more than 100 countries, a global workforce of 7,600+ employees, and revenues of $2...
, which incorporates GPRD and the IMS Disease Analyzer, resulting in the most comprehensive longitudinal anonymized patient-level data in Europe. Together, these two resources encompass medical treatment information for nearly 20 million anonymised patient lives.
The combined expertise of GPRD and IMS enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as governments, payers, providers and the financial and healthcare supply sectors, to make critical decisions about the impact of medicines in clinical practice across different healthcare systems.
A key difference with other UK Primary care databases, is that GPRD can be linked to external disease registries on an individual patient level. Registries include the hospital episode statistics, death certificates, the national cancer registry and MINAP (cardiovascular disease).
The head of research is Dr Tjeerd-Pieter van Staa, a pharmacoepidemiologist who is also affiliated to the Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Dr John Parkinson is the Director, GPRD
Information collected
The following information is collected from participating GP surgeries in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The data is anonymised at the point of collection to protect the privacy of the individuals from whom the data comes.
- Demographics (including age and sex)
- Medical symptoms, signs and diagnoses
- Therapy (medicines, vaccines, devices)
- Treatment outcomes
- Events leading to withdrawal of a drug or treatment
- Referrals to hospitals or specialists
- Laboratory tests, pathology results
- Lifestyle factors (height, weight, BMI, smoking and alcohol consumption)
- Socioeconomic status
- Patient registration, practice and consultation details
See also
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory AgencyMedicines and Healthcare products Regulatory AgencyThe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is the UK government agency which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe....
- Clinical Practice Research Datalink
- The Health Improvement NetworkThe Health Improvement NetworkThe Health Improvement Network is a large database of anonymised medical records collected at GP surgeries around the UK. The THIN database is similar in structure and content to the larger General Practice Research Database , which is managed by the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare...