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Publication, Part of

Coronavirus as Recorded in Primary Care - EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS

Experimental statistics, Official statistics in development

Publication Date:
20 May 2021
Geographic Coverage:
England
Date Range:
01 Mar 2020 to 31 Mar 2021

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2. Data Preparation
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1.Introduction

This report presents the prevalence of COVID-19 as captured in primary care in England. Testing was not as widely available at the start of the pandemic, so clinical diagnoses in the GP records are particularly important during that period.

Data collected from primary care is used to count COVID-19 patients in England between 1st March 2020 and 31st March 2021. The analysis uses a new data set called GP extraction service Data for Pandemic Planning & Research (GDPPR)

Key Facts

  • This primary care data set includes:
    • positive test results as captured in GP records
    • clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19
  • Between 1 March 2020 and 31 March 2021 the data captures:
    • 3,267,820 patients with test or clinical diagnoses of COVID-19 (1 in 18 registered patients).
    • 5,123,640 patients with a test or clinical diagnosis and those with a suspected diagnosis of COVID-19 recorded (1 in 11 registered patients).
  • Primary care data capture patient demographic characteristics not available in other data sets.
  • Combining primary and secondary care data valid ethnicity information is captured for 91.4% of the cohort. 
  • The data suggests that COVID-19 affected patient groups differently over time.
  • The data will reflect differences in infection rates or differences in how the different groups tested or approached their GP.
  • The rates of the registered patients with a positive COVID-19 test or diagnosis as recorded in Primary Care are:
    • Highest in female patients, 1 in 16
    • Lowest in male patients, 1 in 20
    • Highest in patients in the Bangladeshi ethnic group, 1 in 10
    • Lowest in patients the Chinese ethnic group, 1 in 58
    • Highest in patients over 90, 1 in 8
    • Lowest in patients between the age of 5 – 11, 1 in 40
    • Highest in the North West, 1 in 15
    • Lowest in the South West,1 in 24
    • Highest in the 20% most deprived patients, 1 in 15
    • Lowest in the 20% least deprived patients, 1 in 21

Last edited: 19 May 2021 1:57 pm

Previous Chapter

Overview

Next Chapter

2. Data Preparation