Health services research using linked records: who consents and what is the gain?
OBJECTIVE
To assess consent to record linkage, describe the characteristics of consenters and compare self-report versus Medicare records of general practitioner use.


METHODS
Almost 40,000 women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were sent a request by mail for permission to link their Medicare records and survey data.


RESULTS
19,700 women consented: 37% of young (18-23 years), 59% of mid-age (45-50 years) and 53% of older women (70-75 years). Consenters tended to have higher levels of education and, among the older cohort, were in better health than non-consenters. Women tended to under-report the number of visits to general practitioners.


CONCLUSIONS
Record linkage of survey and Medicare data on a large scale is feasible. The linked data provide information on health and socio-economic status which are valuable for understanding health service utilisation.


CONCLUSIONS
Linked records provide a powerful tool for health care research, particularly in longitudinal studies.
Young
A F
AF
Research Centre for Gender and Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales. stafy@cc.newcastle.edu.au
Dobson
A J
AJ
Byles
J E
JE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D018579:Patient Selection; D016387:Women's Health