Data resource profile: Exploring freely accessible data describing wider determinants of health in England

In England, life expectancy has stalled and significant decreases observed in certain geographical areas and populations. The cause of this involves complex dynamics between an individual's health, characteristics, lifestyle, and their wider environment known as the wider determinants of health which are key to good life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and prevention of long-term medical conditions. Knowing the availability, breadth, features, and linkage potential of datasets relevant to wider determinants of health is important for exploring trends and associations for policy and public health planning.

A systematic mapping of internet content identified accessible datasets relevant to wider determinants of health in England with town level geographical granularity or lower. Search terms were used in search engines and chatbots to identify weblinks subsequently examined for eligible datasets.

105 potential weblinks to datasets were identified. Of these, twenty-one weblinks were explored further after exclusion of those: not accessible or currently live (n = 13); duplicated across search engines (n = 17); providing information only (i.e. no raw data, n = 14); did not provide freely accessible data (n = 3); were not relevant to wider determinants of health (n = 17); lacked geographical granularity (n = 26). Eighty-nine datasets of interest were compiled with sub-town level data aggregation. Approximately half (n = 47, 52%) were from the England and Wales census 2021, with the remaining sources including government bodies, public services, and research datasets. Datasets covered many valuable categories of wider determinants of health. Key data gaps included food consumption, social care data and community/voluntary services.

In England, access to data relevant to wider determinants of health is good and available at relatively small geographical resolution. Accessible datasets were identified and compiled within multiple categories of wider determinants of health as a useful data resource to explore wider determinants of health at place if linked to relevant health data or population studies.

This data resource profile describes a systematic mapping of freely accessible population data on wider determinants of health in England. To the authors knowledge this is the first comprehensive compilation of freely accessible data resources of this kind.This data resource profile was created to support research into the mechanisms and impact of wider determinants on the health of populations in England but is applicable to research and populations studies wider than this.Eighty-nine datasets were identified that may be of use to researchers in health and other population data fields. Datasets are held separately but many have the potential to be linked through common geographical area codes to other relevant datasets such as health data.The datasets originate from multiple sources including government bodies, public services, and research datasets. They cover many key categories of wider determinants of health including socioeconomics, employment, housing, support services, and the environment. Key data gaps included food consumption, social care data and community/voluntary services.The data resource profile in this article links directly to freely accessible datasets at the time of publication in the tables provided. The authors welcome contact from researchers for collaboration on exploring wider determinants of health through data use. Please contact Dr Melanie Rees-Roberts (emailto:m.rees-roberts@kent.ac.uk).