Existing Data Sources in Clinical Epidemiology: The Danish Prehospital Medical Record System

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Health Informatics
• Public Health Research

Background:

• The Danish Prehospital Medical Record (DPMR) is a pioneering nationwide electronic system for prehospital medical records.
• Routinely collected data from DPMR are increasingly utilized for research purposes.
• A comprehensive description of the DPMR's system and content is essential for researchers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of the DPMR as a research tool.
• To detail its data structure, variables, and record volume.
• To assess its utility for prehospital research.

Main Methods:

• Examination of the DPMR's history, data structure, content, and usage.
• Analysis of aggregated DPMR data (2016-2023) for key variables.
• Literature search (MEDLINE) for studies using DPMR data in the past decade.

Main Results:

• DPMR contains data on 1.8 million unique patients and over 6 million contacts since 2016.
• The system includes 528 standardized variables covering emergency calls, incident characteristics, EMS units, and patient data.
• Data quality considerations include 5-9% missing civil registration numbers.

Conclusions:

• The DPMR is an increasingly important research tool in Denmark.
• It provides nationwide prehospital data from 2016 onwards.
• The system facilitates linkage with national registries for comprehensive outcome research.