Neuro-epidemiology,
Health-related outcomes data
Please note: data is only accessible through our Research Analysis Platform.
Primary care data
Primary care data for ~230,000 UK Biobank participants (up to 2016 or 2017 depending on the data supplier) was made available in 2019. This dataset contains data from the GP system suppliers and contains coded clinical events (including consultations, diagnoses, procedures and laboratory tests), prescribed medications (including prescription date, drug code and, where available, drug name and quantity) and a range of administrative codes (e.g. referrals to specialist hospital clinics). The data are coded using READ2, CTV-3, BNF and DM+D.
Due to the withdrawal of the UK Government Control of Patient Information (COPI) regulation on the 1st July 2022, additional primary care data made available for COVID-19 research is no longer available.
On 4 October 2024 the Department for Health and Social Care announced that NHS England would take responsibility for primary care data in England. The paves the way for UK Biobank to apply to access participant primary care data for all our participants in due course.
Hospital inpatient data
Hospital inpatient data are available for the full cohort. This provides information on hospital admissions for each participant and includes data on date of admission, diagnosis (and underlying conditions) during admission, procedures and discharge information. These are coded using ICD-9, ICD-10, OPCS-3 and OPCS-4. Please refer to resource 138483 for more information on the inpatient data.
For more details on how the data was collected, mapped and validated, recent changes to the data structure as well as further information on how to access the hospital inpatient data, please refer to our Essential Information page.
First occurrences of medical conditions
A set of ‘first occurrence’ data-fields have been generated that map the clinical codes from primary care, hospital inpatient admissions, death records and self-reported medical conditions to 3-character ICD-10 codes and provide, for each participant, the date that code first occurred in any source. For more information please see:
Death data
Linkage to national death registries provides notifications of participant deaths (if in the UK), containing data on date and cause(s) of death. Further information can be found in resource 115559. These are coded using ICD-10.
Information on the most common causes of death in the cohort by age, time period and sex can be found below.
Cancer data
Linkage to national cancer registries provides notifications of cancer registrations and includes data on cancer diagnosis (ICD-9 and ICD-10) and cancer histology code. Further information can be found in resource 115558.
Information on the most common cancers by age, time period and sex can be found in Showcase. The number of prevalent (i.e. occurring before recruitment) and incident (after recruitment) cancer diagnoses by type of cancer can be found in category 100092 of Showcase and on the Essential information page.
Current censor dates for hospital inpatient data, death registry and cancer registry data can also be found in Showcase. Information on the most common types of cancers by age, time period and sex can be found below.
Algorithmically-defined health outcomes
To aid researchers, UK Biobank have generated algorithmically-defined health outcomes using the self-reported health information, hospital inpatient data and death data, providing information on first diagnosis, for each participant, of a small number of health conditions. For more information please see:
Future health outcomes
In addition to incorporating potential updates of death, cancer and hospital inpatient data, we are always considering potential future linkages. Currently, detailed data on cancer outcomes, including the stage and grade of the tumour, in addition to treatment information, for the full cohort is being processed prior to release. Planned release dates are available on our future data release timeline page.
Relevant publications
Investigative ophthalmology and visual science,
The Relationship Between Ambient Atmospheric Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Glaucoma in a Large Community Cohort
Sharon Y. L. Chua and et alApproved Research ID : 2112
Molecular Psychiatry,
Shared mechanisms between coronary heart disease and depression: findings from a large UK general population-based cohort
Golam M. Khandaker et alApproved Research ID : 26999
Jamia Open,
A semi-supervised approach for rapidly creating clinical biomarker phenotypes in the UK Biobank using different primary care EHR and clinical terminology systems
S Denaxas et alApproved Research ID : 12345
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