Large-scale digital data sets from health, education and research settings considered in relation to linkage in this review.
Type of data | Data set | Data controller(s) | Measures | Population sample | Measurement mode | Measurement frequency |
Mental health data | Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) data from NHS mental health trusts | Participating NHS trusts | De-identified data; support team, referrals, episodes, diagnoses, treatment, text notes | Children and adolescents using secondary care mental health support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) teams | Electronic Health Records (EHR) for CAMHS | Per clinical contact |
Community care (health) data | National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) | NHS Digital | Height, weight, BMI | Children attending schools and in reception or year 6 at time of measurement (annual) | Community care teams or school health nurses | Reception and year 6 |
Education (school) data | National Pupil Database (NPD) | Department for Education (DfE) | Attainment, absence, exclusions, free school meals, children in care, SEN, etc. | Pupils aged 3–19 from all maintained primary, secondary and special schools | School administrative systems and databases | Annual (some fields 3x per year) |
Survey (research) data | Pupil Survey on Health and Well-Being | Local authorities, NHS trusts, or universities | Validated and unvalidated mental health questionnaires, risk and protective factors, etc | Consented pupils from participating schools | Surveys in schools, usually online | Variable—from one-off to termly/annual |
Digital phenotyping (research) data | Remote Digital Phenotyping | Universities, and/or NHS trusts | Digital measures related to mood, movement/actigraphy, heart rate, etc | Consenting participants/patients (with parental consent) | Websites, phones and/or wearable devices | Weekly, daily or continuous |
BMI, Body Mass Index; ID, Identifier; NHS, National Health Service; SAIL, Secure Anonymised Information Linkage; SEN, Special Educational Needs.