Data linkage project opens new possibilities for analyses on the broader impact of COVID-19

Linking data sets provides greater insights into the impact of COVID-19 on the health of the Australian population and the health system.

The institute’s recently established COVID-19 Register is funded by the Medical Research Future Fund and has been established to support evidence-based public health policy decisions and health system planning and management for future pandemics. Researchers are now able to apply to use the data.

The register combines COVID-19 cases with a range of health administrative data sets to further explore demographic patterns and monitor health outcomes such as reinfections, hospitalisations and deaths following a COVID-19 infection. Additionally, it can be used to investigate health service use patterns such as general practitioner (GP) visits before and after a diagnosis.

As the report title suggests, Demonstrating the utility of the COVID-19 register describes some of the types of analysis that will be possible with a linked data set that allows person-based, patient pathway analysis, in turn expanding our understanding of the impact, including the long-term impact, of COVID-19 in Australia.

It is only the first example of how the data from the register can be used.

The data will be updated and expanded over time. Future reports aim to include analyses by priority populations and explore the effects of vaccines, different variants, use of antivirals, how COVID-19 interacts with other chronic diseases and the impact of multiple infections with the virus that causes COVID-19.

For more information contact [email protected]

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care Healthdirect Australia Public Health Australia National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity