Book contents
- Research Methods in Mental Health
- Reviews
- Research Methods in Mental Health
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Foreword
- Section 1 Principles of Research
- Section 2 Tools and Methodologies
- Chapter 6 Using Clinical Data
- Chapter 7 Clinical Trials
- Chapter 8 Principles of Psychological Assessment
- Chapter 9 Qualitative Research
- Chapter 10 Epidemiology and Population Level Research
- Chapter 11 Digital Innovation in Mental Health
- Section 3 Contemporary Applications
- Index
- References
Chapter 6 - Using Clinical Data
from Section 2 - Tools and Methodologies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2025
Book contents
- Research Methods in Mental Health
- Reviews
- Research Methods in Mental Health
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Foreword
- Section 1 Principles of Research
- Section 2 Tools and Methodologies
- Chapter 6 Using Clinical Data
- Chapter 7 Clinical Trials
- Chapter 8 Principles of Psychological Assessment
- Chapter 9 Qualitative Research
- Chapter 10 Epidemiology and Population Level Research
- Chapter 11 Digital Innovation in Mental Health
- Section 3 Contemporary Applications
- Index
- References
Summary
The traditional case register involved assembling records of people with a given condition in order to support cohort studies to describe and investigate the course of their condition and other outcomes. This old design has been resurrected and revolutionised following the widespread implementation of fully electronic healthcare records over the past few decades, providing ‘big data’ resources that are both large and very detailed. These, in turn, are being further enhanced through linkages with complementary administrative data (both health and non-health) and through natural language processing generating structured meta-data from source text fields. This chapter provides an overview of this rapidly developing research infrastructure, considering and advising on some of the challenges faced by researchers planning studies using clinical data and by those considering future resource development.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Research Methods in Mental HealthA Comprehensive Guide, pp. 81 - 94Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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