Is Understanding Society attrition related to dynamic processes of substantive interest to survey users and can weighting adjust for this? A focus on health and healthcare utilisation
Long-term health conditions and the development of multimorbidity (more than one long term condition) remain a particular concern for health policymakers, particularly around the development of appropriate services for an the aging UK population. Typically routine data from electronic health records in primary and secondary care are the gold standard sources for understanding health and healthcare utilisation and outcomes, but the strong limitation comes in the availability, completeness and quality of data around wider social determinants of health.
Social surveys provide a solution for this, and a unique longitudinal resource allowing dynamic changes in health to be studies in the same individuals over time. Concerns about non-response remain the biggest barrier to clinical and policymaker engagement with, and acceptance of any survey results. Methodological rigour underpins policymaker engagement with survey findings. Specifically for this research the concern is that an individual’s health longitudinal health trajectory and engagement with health services (and the interaction of these with their wider social context) may impact whether or not they respond (and continue to respond) to a request for a survey or research interview.
The focus of this project was understanding the dynamic relationship between health, healthcare utilisation and survey response. This research had a particular aim to describe the impact of differential attrition related to dynamic health processes and outcomes, and the appropriateness of Understanding Society for the use in health services research, and to develop practical solutions to methodological issues identified, where appropriate.
Outputs
The methodological work carried out in the fellowship is going to be included in the technical appendix for a report looking at multimorbidity and primary care access. The report is not yet published, but the protocol is, describing how we will use both GPPS and Understanding Society in the analysis. “Saunders, C.L. and J. Sussex, Study Protocol: The impact of telephone triage in primary care on inequalities experienced by people with multiple morbidities: a quantitative evaluation.”
