Feasibility study: Using linked hospital admission and mortality data for assessing variation by ethnicity in national rates of cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the UK and globally. Higher levels of mortality from cardiovascular diseases are well documented in some ethnic groups and in those living in areas of high deprivation. There is also evidence of ethnic disparity in myocardial infarction (MI) incidence in Scotland, using the Scottish Census linked to national hospital admission records. Age-standardised MI mortality rates declined by about half between 2002 and 2010 in the UK, with the fall in event rates and improved 30-day case-fatality contributing almost equally to the decline. No previous research has investigated disparities in English Coroinary Heart Disease (CHD) rates by ethnicity, despite the high proportion of UK ethnic minority groups resident in England.

This project assesses the feasibility of using electronic hospital admission records to investigate ethnic disparities in CHD rates and whether these disparities are influenced by deprivation. It will also determine the possibility of estimating ethnic differences in MI case-fatality using linked hospital and mortality data.