Estimating smoking prevalence in general practice using data from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF)

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) collects data on general practices in the UK.
• Estimating smoking prevalence is crucial for public health interventions and policy development.
• Utilizing routinely collected data can enhance the efficiency of health research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the utility of Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) data for estimating smoking prevalence.
• To determine the accuracy of QOF-derived smoking prevalence estimates in practice populations and local areas.
• To explore the usefulness of these estimates in health outcome analyses.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, observational study analyzed QOF smoking indicator data from East Midlands primary care practices (2006/2007-2012/2013).
• Smoking prevalence was estimated for general practice populations and patients with chronic conditions.
• QOF-based estimates were compared with Integrated Household Survey (IHS) data, and their impact on coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality models was assessed.

Main Results:

• Median smoking prevalence in practice populations was 19.2% (2012/2013).
• Good agreement was found between aggregated QOF estimates and IHS local authority district estimates (mean difference: 0.39%).
• QOF data revealed a positive association between smoking prevalence and premature CHD mortality.

Conclusions:

• Published QOF data provide valuable estimates of smoking prevalence within general practice populations and for individuals with chronic conditions.
• Aggregated QOF data can yield useful smoking prevalence estimates for local areas.
• QOF data enhance the ability to study the impact of smoking on population health outcomes.