Data Management

About Data Management Services

The Data Management team provides data management services to researchers within the University of Aberdeen, NHS Grampian and external clients.

It is essential that new grant applications for research funding should include a cost element to cover data management services such as database design (in Microsoft Access or SQL Server), web applications, patient matching on the NHS Grampian Community Health Index (CHI) or the Patient Administration System (PAS), random population surveys, case-control studies, record linkage, questionnaire design, data entry, data cleaning, manipulation and data analysis.

The team has a wide range of experience in dealing with data in all different formats and can assist in cleaning and transferring it into a more manageable format.

For additional information and general enquires please email datamanagement@abdn.ac.uk and one of the team will be happy to assist.

Contact Details

Database Design

For new research projects, it is cost effective to use the services of the data management team to custom build databases and/or applications to meet the researcher’s requirements. This will significantly enhance data quality and ensure that data analysis can be successfully carried out at a later stage. The team can provide a service to design and develop databases (either Microsoft Access or SQL Server) to capture data from on-line or paper questionnaires.

Database Support and/or Development

The team are able to provide support for existing research databases and development services ranging from generation of reports, customised queries, forms design, data analysis right through to re-development of the database. We are experienced in rationalising data from multiple sources to ensure a consistent format for data analysis.

Database Analysis

Data can be extracted in a variety of formats to allow ease of analysis e.g. into SPSS, SAS or Stata. For larger databases using SQL Server, applications can be developed to carry out more complex analyses, such as event-time cubes, life tables and survival analysis.

Web Applications

For studies with geographically diverse subjects and/or locations, internet based data collection is ideal. We have dedicated staff to design, manage and host your data collection website. We can design and build highly scalable and customised websites hosted on a secure, confidential platform.

Record Linkage

Record linkage is becoming vital to accessing the full potential of clinical research databases. A service can be provided to match participants in research projects to patients registered on CHI and upload the corresponding CHI Numbers to the clinical database, enabling follow-up of patients where ethical approval has been obtained.

Anonymisation Service

We are able to link confidential data sets and anonymise merged data to provide a source of material for researchers, avoiding the strict laws of confidentiality, which do not apply to anonymised data.

Population Studies

The team can provide a service to extract random samples of patient demographic information from the Grampian CHI population, subject to Director of Public Health approval. A CHI patient matching service is also available, to enable research databases to be populated with patient CHI Numbers for later follow-up or record linkage.

Control patients can be extracted from CHI according to specified criteria for case-control studies. For each research study, the team can liaise with the Grampian Director of Public Health to send out patient lists for eligibility screening by GP’s, consent forms to patients and subsequent questionnaires.

PCCIU Research

The team also works alongside the PCCIU-R team in extracting data for collaborations using the Primary Care Data sets. This is an extensive anonymised database which details patient encounters, diagnoses, measurements and prescriptions from GPASS practices and is collected bi-annually. For more information on how you may be able to use this database in your research please contact the PCCIU-R team directly pcciuresearch@abdn.ac.uk or visit their website.

Safe Haven

For more information regarding the Grampian Data Safe Haven(DaSH) please visit their website or email dash@abdn.ac.uk.

Recent Projects

The team is involved in a number of projects across the University. Here is just a brief list of some of the projects we have been involved in recently:

• College Ethics Review Board (CERB)
• Aberdeen Maternity Neonatal Database (AMND)
• Parkinson’s in the North East (PINE)
• Scottish Primary Care Research Network (SPCRN)
• Aberdeen Fertility Database (AFC)
• Assisted Reproduction Unit (ACU)
• Cambridge Collaboration with NHS Grampian Laboratory (MCM)
• ASPIRE
• Breast Cancer Recovery
• Early Life Exposures in the Epidemiology of Pain
• Dental Audit
• Assisted Reproduction Double Embryo Transfer Audit (DET)
• Fertility in the North East (FINE)
• WHO Survey on Patient Safety (WHOMED)