Transforming child health outcomes through data linkage

Survival rates following early life critical illness have improved markedly. However, there is a resulting impact on physical and mental health conditions for survivors. To date, there has been a lot of research focusing on physical outcomes for this group of patients, little is known about their long term mental health. Existing studies on mental health in survivors of early life critical illnesses are limited by small sample sizes, short term follow-up and using self-reported patient outcomes rather than objective clinical diagnoses. Understanding the mental health morbidity inherent in early life critical illness survivors, and identifying the determinants of the mental health morbidity can provide comprehensive and high resolution insights. This will enable identifying high risk individuals and provide targeted intervention to improve outcomes for the vulnerable groups with mental health issues. I aim to use the Wellcome Accelerator Award funding to carry out a project investigating long term mental health morbidity in early life critical illness survivors, identify determinants and impact on survival using linked nationwide population level data that captures the patients’ “whole journey”.