Using record linkage to enhance and validate data collected in the Millennium Cohort Study
As part of sweep 1 of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), we use record linkage to obtain birth certificates and hospital delivery records of MCS children. For those MCS families who gave consent, data from birth registrations and hospital episodes were sought. On the whole, consent was high and matching was successful. Overall, a match for 99% of those that gave consent was achieved with birth registrations, and a match of 83%of those that gave consent, with hospital records. There was good agreement found between maternal reporting and routine hospital records for mode of delivery and gestational age. The additional data gained from record linkage may be accessed - for details, see the MCS website at http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/Default.aspx
- NPEU Contact:
- Maria Quigley (maria.quigley@npeu.ox.ac.uk)