B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA® reaches new milestone

B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA^® has surpassed 150 database profiles from 24 countries, including several from Eastern Europe!  Read our latest press release to learn more about new profiles, annual updates, new HD tutorials, and additions to our proprietary glossary!

Epidemiological Studies in Multiple Countries and Ethnic Groups

As our globe is becoming increasingly interconnected, conducting epidemiology studies in multiple countries is becoming more important.  Furthermore, as many countries are experiencing increased population diversity (e.g., USA, Australia, Canada and UK), conducting studies across multi-ethnic populations is becoming ever more relevant. 

However, defining ‘ethnicity’ is not a simple matter because ethnicity not only concerns race, but is actually a form of social grouping based on cultural factors such as language, lifestyle, religion, food and ancestry.  Capturing ethnicity data is important for population health studies because factors such as diet, genetics, use of herbal medication or Eastern medical practices such as acupuncture, etc. influence health outcome.

When it comes to conducting epidemiology studies:

• How can you access population health data from different countries?
• What considerations do you have to take into account when comparing data across different regions?
• What constitutes an ethnically distinct population?
• What data on ethnicity are being collected in health databases?

The good news is that you do not have to wait too much longer to get some answers on these questions.  

The 6^th Asian Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology (ACPE) will be held in Beijing, China from October 28-30 this year, and this might be a great opportunity to learn more about conducting studies in Asian and other populations.  The term "Asian" may actually have different meanings to different people around the world.  In general, “Asian” refers to people having origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam).  

Dr. Judith K. Jones (MD, PhD), an internationally recognized expert in the areas of adverse drug reactions and pharmacoepidemiology, will be attending the 3-day conference.  There, Dr. Jones will be talking about “Future Opportunities in Pharmacoepidemiology in Asia”.

Dr. Jones is also the Executive Director of the non-profit organization DGI, LLC, and Chief Editor of B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA® (www.bridgetodata.org), a subscription online directory describing epidemiologic and population health databases.  Currently, there are ~150 database and registry profiles from 22 countries, including some from China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Taiwan.  Each profile includes 75 data fields describing the database, population, coding systems, data on drugs/diagnoses/procedures, cost information, validation & linkage, and provides some administrative information, as well as a list of recent publications. 

B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA® can help researchers find and compare databases that cover populations from different regions of the world, as well as determine if data elements such as ethnicity, and other sociodemographic data are captured in a database of interest.  In order for ethnicity data to be of use in epidemiology studies, databases must collect that information consistently.  The profiles listed in BRIDGE describe the type of ethnicity data captured, and any issues involved in assessing ethnicity for a particular data source.  For example, in some countries such as France, collecting information on ethnicity is not acceptable, even for research purposes.  In other countries, it is particularly important to capture data on ethnic minority groups so that medical care is not overlooked in these underrepresented populations; however, sometimes sample weight adjustments are required.  Interestingly, in an effort to avoid detailing information on race, databases commonly record “spoken language of patient” as a surrogate for ethnicity.

If you plan on attending ACPE and would like to meet Dr. Jones and/or learn more about B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA®, then post a comment with your information or e-mail us at info@bridgetodata.org.

B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA at ICPE 2011

We would like to thank everyone who visited us at the 27^th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology & Therapeutic Risk Management (ICPE) in Chicago last month.  At the conference, DGI had a booth, where we showcased B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA^® (www.bridgetodata.org), as well as presented a poster titled “An Analysis of Registries with Birth Defect Data Using an Online Database Resource”.  One of the applications of B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA^® is to serve as a guide when designing databases or registries – in this case to identify pertinent core data fields common to registries that collect birth defect data.  To download a copy of our poster, click here.

Visitors to the booth also had an opportunity to register for a FREE one-month access to our resource; the lucky winner is an Assistant Professor from the Colorado School of Public Health (Department of Economics)! 

Passers-by, intrigued with our colorful world map, had fun placing pins on their country of origin and finding out whether B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA^® included a profile of their favorite database or registry.

The latest additions to our collection of healthcare database profiles include:

·         China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)

·         Estudio Colaborativo Espanol de Malformaciones Congenitas (ECEMC) (Spain)

·         IMS LifeLink™ Longitudinal Rx (LRx) Database: Australia

·         IntrinsiQ Database (USA)

·         Italian Spontaneous Reporting System

·         Premier-i3 Continuum of Care Database (USA)

To get more information on the 140+ database profiles from 21 countries, or to schedule a one-hour demo (via webinar), contact us.

Come visit our booth at the Annual International Conference of Pharmacoepidemiology (ICPE 2011) in Chicago!

Our abstract entitled:

 “An analysis of registries with birth defect data using an online database resource” (#120), has been accepted for a poster presentation at the 27th International Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology & Therapeutic Risk Management.  This annual meeting, held by the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), will be in Chicago, Illinois, USA, this year (August 14-17).

ISPE is an international organization dedicated to advancing the health of the public by providing a forum for the field of pharmacoepidemiology to promote open exchange of scientific information and for the development of policy, education, and advocacy.  It includes areas such as pharmacovigilance, drug utilization research, comparative effectiveness research, and therapeutic risk management).

If you are attending this meeting, we hope you will view our poster presentation on Monday, August 15, or stop by The Degge Group, Ltd. / DGI, LLC booth to learn more about B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA® (www.bridgetodata.org).

For more information on the 27^th annual ICPE, Click Here

Read our latest Press Release from May 20, 2011

B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA, an online subscription resource, contains detailed profiles of >125 population databases/registries worldwide for use in epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, and pharmacoeconomics.  For the most up-to-date information on B.R.I.D.G.E. TO DATA^®, now you can: Connect with us on LinkedIn, Follow our blog, or Subscribe to our feed.

The profiles are reviewed by database managers and updated on an annual basis to ensure the most up-to-date information, as well as a specialized, regularly updated glossary. 

We continue to expand our worldwide compendium and hope to achieve 200 profiles early 2012.  To read the entire Press Release, Click Here or Contact Us for more information.