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UKCRC Health Research Classification System

Prions – studies of TSEs, BSE, CJD and prion protein

Advice on health categories

Studies of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) – including Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) – and prion proteins should always be coded as Neurological. Even when such a study is investigating transmission or mechanism of disease, it should not be coded as Infection.

 

Advice on research activities

The 3 Prevention code group should be used for primary prevention studies only and not for secondary prevention.

e.g. anti-smoking education in adolescence should be coded as 3.1 Primary prevention.

Prevention of the re-occurrence of a condition or prevention of a closely related condition arising from the pre-existing disease (secondary prevention) should not be coded within the 3 Prevention code group.

e.g. use of aspirin to prevent further adverse cardiovascular events or stroke in cardiovascular patients should be coded as 6.1 Pharmaceuticals and not 3.3 Nutrition prevention.

Prevention of a disease or condition within a specific patient group where the preventable disease is either unrelated to or may be a future sequela of the patient’s current condition can be coded as primary 3 Prevention.

e.g. prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients with no current cardiovascular disease diagnosis.

In circumstances where a study is focussed on preventing the side effects of a treatment, it would be appropriate to code to 3 Prevention and code to either 5 Treatment Development or 6 Treatment Evaluation.

e.g study of a substance preventing side effects after chemotherapy for cancer would be coded 50% 3.3 Nutrition prevention and 50% 6.1 Pharmaceuticals.

 

Advice on research activities

Policy is not just in 8.3 Policy, ethics and research governance. For example, research on public health policy aimed at preventing disease should be coded to:

There are a number of research terms (e.g. Policy, Education, Trial) that are repeated in different parts of the Research Activity codes. Classification of research is context dependent and the coding guidance for assigning research activities is to identify the appropriate main code group first, then assigning a sub-code within it.

 

Advice on research activities

Pharmaceuticals are not always used in a therapeutic context – and therefore research involving pharmaceuticals will not always be coded to 5.1 Pharmaceuticals or 6.1 Pharmaceuticals.

Established pharmaceutical compounds may be used in studies investigating mechanisms of action or aetiology (e.g. by disrupting pathways or blocking transmission) and it would then be appropriate to code as 1.1 Biological or 2.1 Endogenous risks.

Pharmaceuticals may also be used in chemopreventative studies, which should be coded as 3.3 Nutrition and chemoprevention.

 

Advice on health categories

Studies of pain in a particular system should be coded using the appropriate Health Category.

e.g. gastrointestinal pain should be coded as Oral and Gastrointestinal.

e.g. fibromyalgia should be coded as Musculoskeletal.

Studies focussed on pain pathways in the nervous system should be coded as Neurological. Other psychological studies of pain perception should be coded as Mental Health.

 

Advice on research activities

Basic studies on the mechanism of acute pain should be coded within the 1 Underpinning code group. However if the research is addressing pain from a specific condition or injury (including chronic pain) it would be appropriate to use other Research Activity codes.

 

Advice on health categories

Studies mapping normal behaviour or cognitive processes to brain regions should be coded 50% Neurological and 50% Mental Health.

Studies of abnormal behaviour and psychology will generally be coded as Mental Health.

Studies of abnormal brain and neural structures will generally be coded as Neurological.

 

Advice on research activities

Studies mapping normal behaviour or cognitive processes to brain regions should be coded 50% 1.1 Biological and 50% 1.2 Psychological.

Studies of abnormal behaviour and psychology will generally be coded as 2.3 Psychological risks.

Studies of abnormal brain and neural structures will generally be coded as 2.1 Endogenous risks.

 

Advice on health categories

Diseases of the neuromuscular junction (such as myasthenia gravis) fall into the Neurological category but primary muscle disorders (muscular dystrophies) should be coded under Musculoskeletal.

 

Advice on health categories

The Generic Health Relevance category should be used in cases where research is directly applicable to more than five health categories.

There are also a number of research topics that are of relevance to a particular subset of diseases and conditions where these diseases and conditions may not be specifically referred to within the research abstract. In circumstances where the research is not focused on a named disease or condition, refer to the following answers for standardised lists of relevant Health Categories and appropriate percentage weightings:

 

Advice on research activities

There are three codes for classification of methodologies, measurements and research designs:

The choice of appropriate code will depend on the overall nature of the research.

  • 1.4 Methods is frequently used for statistical genomic analysis
  • 2.5 Design for epidemiological research
  • 8.4 Design to cover design and methodologies for all types of health care

The methodology codes should be used for the development of novel methodologies, measurements and research designs and not simply for application or assessment of existing methods and measures as part of the research.

 

Advice on research activities

The Resources and infrastructure code within every research activity code group is used to categorise three types of funding:

  1. Generation of resources for distribution to and/or use by the wider community e.g. DNA banks. This category is distinct from ‘resources’ that are developed for use within individual research awards e.g. informatics programmes that may be published on the internet.
  2. Funding to support the infrastructural component of networks, research centres and consortia.
  3. Large units containing multiple projects covering diverse research aims that cannot be captured within the limit of four research activity codes.

Note that if an award is focused directly on the research carried out by a network or centre, it should be coded to the appropriate research activity code(s) that reflects the aim(s) of the research and not to the Resources and infrastructure code. There may be circumstances where it is suitable to assign both a research code and a Resources and infrastructure code.

 

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