Residential Anonymous Linking Fields (RALFs): A novel information infrastructure to study the interaction between the environment and individuals' health

Abstract

Background The necessity of aggregating health data over areas can impede our understanding of health determinants. Methods We demonstrate the possibility of creating anonymous links between individual residences and the local environment using digital map data and a data linkage system. Results Digital map data were used successfully to anonymously link 1.3 million addresses to the local environment. The data linkage system allows detailed environment data surrounding each residence to be linked both to each resident therein and to their medical records. Conclusions Local environment data specific to each house can be effectively and anonymously linked to the population registered with the National Health Service. Our integrated approach potentially enables flexible fine-scale, large-area observational studies of communities and health.