Practical utility of general practice data capture and spatial analysis for understanding COPD and asthma

Abstract

BACKGROUND: General practice-based (GP) healthcare data have promise, when systematically collected, to support estimating local rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, variations in burden of disease, risk factors and comorbid conditions, and disease management and quality of care. The use of GP information systems for health improvement has been limited, however, in the scope and quality of data. This study assessed the practical utility of de-identified clinical databases for estimating local rates of COPD and asthma. We compared COPD and asthma rates to national benchmarks, examined health related risk factors and co-morbidities as correlates of COPD and asthma,..