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Inconsistency in UK Biobank Event Definitions From Different Data Sources and Its Impact on Bias and

Emily Bassett, James Broadbent, Dipender Gill

    American Journal of Epidemiology
    |November 20, 2023
    PubMed

    Insights

    Investigating venous thromboembolism (VTE) in UK Biobank data reveals significant discrepancies between hospital, primary care, and self-reported sources. Combining these sources may impact data representativeness and study outcomes.

    Area of Science:

    • Epidemiology
    • Health Informatics
    • Biostatistics

    Background:

    • UK Biobank offers diverse diagnostic data (hospital, primary care, self-reported) for large-scale studies.
    • Accurate disease definition is crucial for epidemiological research, but optimal data source integration remains unclear.
    • Venous thromboembolism (VTE) case definition consistency across multiple data sources requires investigation.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To evaluate the consistency and overlap of venous thromboembolism (VTE) case definitions across three distinct UK Biobank data sources.
    • To assess the impact of data source selection on the representativeness of VTE patient populations.

    Main Methods:

    • Compared VTE case identification using hospital inpatient data, primary care records, and self-reported questionnaires within the UK Biobank.
    • Quantified the overlap of VTE events identified across the three data sources.
    • Analyzed the distribution of VTE subtypes (deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism) and sociodemographic characteristics by data source.

    Main Results:

    • Minimal overlap observed for VTE cases across the three data sources; only 6% of primary care-identified VTE events were present in all three.
    • A significant majority (71%) of VTE events were identified in only one data source.
    • Substantial differences in VTE subtypes and patient demographics (e.g., sex distribution) were noted between hospital and self-reported data.

    Conclusions:

    • Decisions regarding data source selection in large biobanks can significantly influence epidemiological findings.
    • The low overlap and differing case characteristics highlight potential biases when combining or selecting specific data sources for VTE research.
    • Researchers must carefully consider data source implications to ensure the validity and representativeness of their study populations.

    Keywords:
    UK Biobankbiasdeep vein thrombosisevent definitiongeneralizabilitypulmonary embolismrepresentativenesssociodemographic characteristicsvenous thromboembolism

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