Research Archive - Page 12 of 14 - Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study

A series of projects to explore the difficulties and benefits of linking health-service related data to the NILS.

The utility of the NILS data can be greatly extended by linkage to health-service related databases which offer a greater frequency of events that are likely to have more HPSS policy relevance. The proposed study aims to test the feasibility and difficulties of linking the NILS dataset to three HPSS-related datasets. The potential benefits of such linkages will be illustrated by undertaking three projects (i) a study of deliberate self-harmers; (ii) a study of the pharmaco-epidemiology of antidepressant usage in Northern Ireland, and (iii) an examination of variations in the uptake of breast and cervical cancer screening in Northern Ireland.

November 14, 2019

Describing and Modelling Internal Migration in NI 2001-2006 using the NILS: Individuals, Households and Places.

Internal migration between places (wards and/or SOAs) in NI has been under researched. In particular, there have been few quantitative analyses. This project aims to address this gap by exploring migration patterns using selected individual, household and ecological variables. The study has two focuses: community background and health status. Particular issues the project seeks to explore include the extent to which individuals living in areas where they are the ‘minority community’ are more likely to move after controlling for selected individual and household characteristics; whether there are differential mobility patterns for people with health problems by the type of area in which they live; and what types of movers are associated with upwards (or downwards) social mobility, as measured by variables such as housing conditions and neighbourhood deprivation.

November 14, 2019

Individual, household and area variations in alcohol related deaths in Northern Ireland.

Over the past decade there has been a marked increase in levels of alcohol consumption in society, both in terms of the proportion of the population who drink alcohol and in the amount of people who regularly drink above the recommended level. At the same time the number of people dying from alcohol related causes in Northern Ireland has been rising. Recent evidence has shown that alcohol related deaths rates in Northern Ireland, while traditionally being similar to those experienced in England and Wales are now increasing at a faster rate, and as a result the alcohol related death rate in Northern Ireland has exceeded those in England and Wales for a number of years.

November 14, 2019

Lone mothers at time of birth: who are they? An exploration of their socioeconomic and household characteristics.

Lone mothers are at excess risk of poor pregnancy outcomes in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. The majority live in deprived areas, and a large proportion are teenage mothers. The aim of this project is to explore the socioeconomic and household characteristics of women who were “lone mothers” at the time of birth of their children. The objectives are:

November 14, 2019

The distribution of cancer deaths in Northern Ireland by population and household type.

The Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) is a population-based registry covering Northern Ireland. It collects comprehensive information on all new cases of cancer and cancer deaths occurring in a defined population, however the information collected focuses more on medical aspects and limited information about cancer patients other than basic demographics is collected. While the patient’s sex, age and area of residence provide valuable information there is an increasing demand to know more about the social characteristics of cancer patients.

November 14, 2019

The socio-economic and cultural influences on the perception and reporting of self-reported health in Northern Ireland.

Census-based measures of self-reported health are widely used throughout the UK to assess need and as part of resource allocation formulae to distribute HPSS resources. It is important to know that such measures are not significantly biased by social or cultural factors. The proposed study aims to use the NILS-Mortality Linkage Study to examine the relationship between self-reported health in the 2001 census and subsequent mortality in the following five years to see if this relationship is modified because of the individual respondent’s religious affiliation, country of birth, or by levels of chronic unemployment in the area in which they live. These associations are strongly indicated by other research evidence. The results from the proposed research should help determine the direction and extent of any cultural and socio-economic factors influencing the reporting of SRH in Northern Ireland.

November 14, 2019

An exploratory analysis of child dental health and use of dental care services in Northern Ireland.

This study will link data from the 2001 Census, the General Registrar’s Office and the Central Service Agency relating to NHS dental service use to explore measures of oral health status and variations in service use among children aged 10. It will compare measures of oral health based on decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) with those based on the state of first permanent molar teeth in children using CSA data. It will describe differences by social class in dental health and in use of dental services; it will explain variations in service use within the context of a constrained utility maximising model of behaviour. Health and service use will be related to parental socio-economic and demographic characteristics, as well as access to dental services and area characteristics.

November 14, 2019

Area influences on health: does the extent of community or religious segregation matter?

Northern Ireland (NI) is a society spatially segregated along religious denomination lines. This study looks at some of the implications of this for population health in NI. In particular, the study examines (i) health outcomes associated with minority status for groups living within larger ‘other’ communities; and (ii) health outcomes associated with living as part of larger homogeneous communities which may have developed exclusionist social networks and mores – scenarios testable for both positive and negative health outcomes. More generally, while the immediate context for this study is NI, findings of this kind can have implications for the study of health in other minority populations. Indices of community composition will be derived quantifying the major religious denominations at area level.

November 14, 2019

A study of the feasibility of combining NILS and Social Services Care Administrative and Records Environment (SOSCARE) data to identify and profile children and families with long term and complex needs.

Policy with respect to children and families in the United Kingdom is strongly influenced by the research based assumption that experience of long term and complex needs in childhood is predictive of poor social and economic outcomes in adulthood. In addition, it is assumed that children who are the subject of care proceedings or who have had their names added to the child protection register are likely to come from such families and can provide an understanding of the wider population of children with long term and complex needs. Government wishes to target such families for early intervention and prevention. However, there is currently no dedicated data source for the identification and profiling of families with long term and complex needs. A possible alternative to setting up such a data base is to combine existing data bases in the manner of the NILS.

November 14, 2019

Archives: Research

A series of projects to explore the difficulties and benefits of linking health-service related data to the NILS.

Describing and Modelling Internal Migration in NI 2001-2006 using the NILS: Individuals, Households and Places.

Individual, household and area variations in alcohol related deaths in Northern Ireland.

Lone mothers at time of birth: who are they? An exploration of their socioeconomic and household characteristics.

The distribution of cancer deaths in Northern Ireland by population and household type.

The socio-economic and cultural influences on the perception and reporting of self-reported health in Northern Ireland.

An exploratory analysis of child dental health and use of dental care services in Northern Ireland.

Area influences on health: does the extent of community or religious segregation matter?

A study of the feasibility of combining NILS and Social Services Care Administrative and Records Environment (SOSCARE) data to identify and profile children and families with long term and complex needs.

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