Using anonymized, routinely collected health data in Wales to estimate the incidence of depression after burn injury

Burn injuries are associated with depression. Patients show variable incidence of postburn depression. The purpose of this study was to use anonymized, routinely collected health-related data in Wales (United Kingdom) to estimate the incidence of depression postburns. The incidence of postburn depression was estimated using routinely collected health data of complete years (1999-2007) from all general practitioner surgeries in Swansea and all National Health Service hospitals in Wales. This had been collected, double encrypted, and stored at the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage databank of the Health Information Research Unit for Wales at College of Medicine, Swansea University. The incidence of depression within 5 years after the burn injury was 5.9% in patients registered with general practitioner surgeries in Swansea. The incidence was 7.4% in female patients and 4.3% in male patients. The incidence of depression within 5 years after the burn was 3.2% in patients admitted to National Health Service hospitals in Wales. The incidence was 4.5% in female patients and 2.6% in male patients. The advantages of using the anonymized, routinely collected data were avoiding bias, protecting patients' confidentiality, including all patients thus minimizing attrition and greatly reduced costs. It is concluded that anonymized, routinely collected, health-related data may have value in monitoring postburn depression in Wales.