Australian Cardiovascular Data Linkage Interest Group

The Data Linkage Sub-Committee was established by Chief Investigator Professor Dominique Cadilhac as part of Stroke123. This was a complex study with numerous partner organisations and collaborators. To facilitate the coordination and running of the project, various sub-committees were established including the Data Linkage Sub-Committee.

In 2018 this sub-committee was renames the National Stroke Data Linkage Interest Group to identify the transition from Stroke123 to more generic national stroke data linkage projects. The oversight and governance of this group is performed by the AuSCR Steering Committee.

The role of the National Stroke Data Linkage Interest Group

• Seek advice from members and data custodians on the processes required for linking data on patients with stroke to externally held datasets

• Collaborate and seek a thorough understanding from members of the data transfer and linkage processes required to link these data to various external datasets held by state and commonwealth governments including:

◦  hospital administrative data (admissions and emergency presentations)

◦  death registry data (National Death Index)

◦  prescription data (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme)

◦  medical visits (Medical Benefits Schedule)

• Share knowledge on data coding, statistical techniques for the preparation of datasets and for the analyses of linked data

• Collaborate on writing grants to access data to understand the continuum of stroke, from prevention to quality of care and long term outcomes

• Explore future linkage possibilities for the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) and other datasets