A self-paced course on how to create Household Units of Analysis (HUAs) from line-level pseudonymised GP patient data.
This transparent and standardised method will quickly provide you with data on every household in your population at a specified point in time and the demography and count of the occupants. This will support household-level analysis without relying on surveys.
Learning objectives
Why the household context is important
Existing household statistics from surveys and their limitations
Why GP patient data in Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are a rich alternative
Why transparent standardised methods are needed when using administrative data
How patient addresses represented as Unique Property Reference Numbers are households
Why pseudonymisation is required in the method
Real-world examples of household-level research
Limitations and caveats associated with patient data
Variations in data by geography and TRE and user responsibilities
Data requirements
Overview of the method and the synthetic training dataset
Demonstration of the method so that the user can replicate
Knowledge required:
Accessing and understanding administrative and patient data
SQLite
What our learners say about this course:
“The course has supported my learning by helping me develop both practical SQL skills and a better understanding of how data is used in real-world research contexts. Working with structured exercises has improved my ability to break down complex questions into manageable steps and translate them into queries. It has also highlighted the importance of data definitions, joins, and assumptions, showing that analysis is not just technical but also interpretive. Overall, it has helped build my confidence in working with administrative data and understanding how analytical decisions affect results.”