IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science

A novel data linkage for around 200,000 children born in Scotland, 2009-2013 and published in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS) has shown large social inequalities in health which start from the moment of birth.

The linkages were carried out across a range of health record types, including prescribing data, hospital admissions, and child health checks, and children were followed up until the age of 6 years. Birth registrations provided information on area deprivation, family structure and parents’ social class.

Researchers from the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow,  found that the health differences between those from less, compared to more, advantaged families were largest for health conditions which persisted (e.g., experiencing overweight or obesity as a toddler and in primary school), or that were more severe (e.g. an injury which required a longer stay in hospital).

Health differences also tended to be larger when looking at the social characteristics of families’ households (family structure and social class), as opposed to where they live.

Furthermore, differences in health increased with every additional aspect of disadvantage experienced. For example, 41% of the most disadvantaged children (who were living in a lone parent household, with an economically inactive parent, and in the most deprived areas) were exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and during the early years. This was far higher than children who were living with a married, managerial/professional mother, in the least deprived areas (of whom, less than 1% were exposed to tobacco smoke throughout pregnancy and the early years).

Official reports, which monitor trends in health inequalities, normally rely on area-level deprivation and snapshots of health at one point in the life course. This may underestimate the detrimental impacts of social disadvantage throughout the early years period, whereas the  linkages we have carried out could be extended further. Using data linkage enables researchers to gain more scope, or example, to examine health into adolescence and early adulthood, and to evaluate the impacts of policy changes (like the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment) on health inequalities and life chances.

Author, Anna Pearce emphasised that “This novel linkage of health and birth records, for almost two hundred thousand children in Scotland, has furthered our understanding of child health inequalities and demonstrates the huge potential of these types of linkages for future, solutions-focussed research.”

 

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Anna Pearce, Senior Research Fellow, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow

Henery, P., Dundas, R., Katikireddi , S. V., Leyland, A. H., Fenton, L., Scott, S., Cameron, C. and Pearce, A. (2024) “A maternal and child health administrative cohort in Scotland: the utility of linked administrative data for understanding early years’ outcomes and inequalities”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 9(2). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v9i2.2402.