HES9325 Register-based epidemiology

University of Oslo, Faculty of Medicine

Course content

This course in Register-Based Epidemiology provides comprehensive training in the use of official health registers and other registers important for health research to conduct epidemiological research in Norway. The course emphasizes the practical application of epidemiological methods to analyze large-scale health data. The course will provide an overview of Norwegian laws and regulations related to the use of registry-based data. Understanding the origin of your registry data is crucial, as most register data are not initially collected for research purposes. This distinction has significant implications for both the type and quality of the data. Participants will gain hands-on experience in data cleaning, linkage, statistical analysis, and critical reading of register-based studies.

Learning outcome

Learning outcome

The course will give you knowledge about:

• registers in Norway relevant for health research
• appropriate designs for register-based studies
• appropriate statistical methods for analyses of register-based data
• Norwegian laws and regulations pertaining to register-based data
• the quality and integrity of register-based data
• selection bias, information bias and confounding in register-based studies
• causal inference in register-based studies
• strengths and weaknesses of register-based data in epidemiological research

Skills

The course will give you the skills to:

• detect and handle errors in new data files (error search)
• maintain and organize large datasets, thoroughly document work, and track all changes in syntaxes
• Be able to perform analyses of register-based data, whether from a single register, multiple linked registries, or in combination with other data types such as health surveys or clinical data
• define research questions based on register-data, and suggest appropriate study designs
• discuss data quality in relation to the origin of the data (how and by whom it was registered)
• critically evaluate scientific papers that have used data from registers

General competence

This course equips students with the skills to manage and analyze large epidemiological datasets. Students will learn to critically evaluate papers, design studies, and understand ethical and legal aspects of data handling. Through lectures and practical exercises (individually and in groups) students will be well prepared to use administrative health registries in their future epidemiological research.

Teaching

The course consists of lectures and is organized as full day teaching over 4 days.

Examination

Home exam will be given at the end of the course.

Admission to the course

PhD candidates at University of Oslo will be prioritized, and within this group the highest priority is given to PhD candidates who are working on research that entails/will entail qualitative interviewing and/or participant observation.

Applicants admitted to a PhD programme at UiO apply to this course in StudentWeb.

Applicants who are not admitted to a PhD programme at UiO must apply for a right to study before they can apply to this course. See information here:  How to apply for a right to study and admission to elective PhD courses in medicine and health sciences.

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