Pollution, radiation and environmental hazards
Advice on health categories
If there is no other indication of the health effects of air pollution, code 50% Respiratory for the direct effects on the lungs and 50% Generic Health Relevance for other effects.
Studies of the effects of environmental radiation exposure should be coded 33.3% Cancer, 33.3% Congenital Disorders and 33.3% Generic.
Main inclusion criteria
- Research applicable to all diseases and conditions or to general health and well-being of individuals.
- Public health research, epidemiology and health services research that is not focused on specific conditions.
- Underpinning biological, psychosocial, economic or methodological studies that are not specific to individual diseases or conditions.
Advice on health categories
There are four main circumstances where the Generic Health Relevance category is most applicable:
- Research that is relevant to all diseases and conditions or to general health and well-being.
- For example, many studies with research activity coded as 1 Underpinning involves study of normal processes that may be relevant to all diseases and conditions e.g. cell cycle or DNA repair, developmental biology.
- Any research that cannot be attributed to a particular disease or condition or to normal function of a specific type of cell or system, defined by the top 19 health categories.
- e.g. Studies of wounds and healing without a specified tissue type or specifically caused by Accident or Injuries.
- If research is judged relevant to more than five Health Categories then these should be substituted for 100% Generic Health Relevance.
- As an additional code for studies with a disease(s)/condition(s) of focus which also has relevance to many other diseases/conditions.
- This final circumstance has considerable scope, so additional guidance is given below.
Generic Health Relevance as an additional code
If the main focus of the research is directed at several specified diseases and also has implications for many other conditions, the appropriate specific Health Categories should be used as well as applying the Generic category. (Note that this does not apply to diseases that may be listed within the background information or are noted as ‘being relevant’ to the study under investigation; many awards will reference multiple conditions to provide a context for the research, but always apply coding based on the lifetime of the award – (see the coding guidance on assigning health categories.)
Examples of this use of Generic Health Relevance coding appears across the HRCS guidance, including:
- Cancer studies – Studies of the normal role of oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes in a non-diseased cell may be coded as 50% Cancer and neoplasms and 50% Generic.
- Pollution – If there is no other indication of the health effects of air pollution, code 50% Respiratory for the direct effects on the lungs and 50% Generic for other effects.
- Environmental radiation – Studies of the effects of environmental radiation exposure should be coded 33.33% Cancer, 33.33% Congenital Disorders and 33.33% Generic.
- Studies where a particular condition is used as an exemplar or case study to evaluate models, services and systems may also be coded as Generic – see Case studies, exemplars and tracer conditions guidance for more details.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Generic health relevance | Generic |
HRCS_HC_20GEN |
Related external links
None.
Main inclusion criteria
Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory diseases and normal development and function of the respiratory system.
Advice on health categories
Includes studies of the upper and lower respiratory tract, including nasal cavity, sinuses, larynx, vocal cords, trachea and lungs. Studies of the elements of the throat shared with the digestive system (e.g. pharynx and epiglottis) may be coded as Oral and Gastrointestinal depending on the context of the research.
Studies of allergies in asthma sufferers can be coded as 50% Inflammatory and Immune System for allergies and 50% Respiratory for asthma.
Excludes pulmonary hypertension which should be coded as Cardiovascular.
Excludes respiratory infections which should be coded as Infection.
Note there is specific guidance for coding research related to smoking, tobacco and smoking-related diseases.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short Name | Unique ID |
| Respiratory | Respiratory |
HRCS_HC_17RES |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
Physical abnormalities and syndromes that are not associated with a single type of disease or condition including Down’s syndrome and cystic fibrosis.
Advice on health categories
Includes physical malformation and congenital syndromes that are associated with multiple diseases and conditions.
Excludes inherited single disease disorders (even when referred to as ‘congenital’) which should be coded under the appropriate Health Category.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Congenital | Congenital |
HRCS_HC_04CON |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
All types of neoplasms, including benign, potentially malignant, malignant (cancer) and canerous growths. This includes leukaemia and mesothelioma.
Advice on health categories
Do not code to the site of the cancer. However if the research involves studying a condition that predisposes to cancer then it may be appropriate to code for this condition as well.
e.g. The role of Barrett’s oesophagus in cancer would be 50% Oral and Gastrointestinal and 50% Cancer.
Similarly research on pathogens associated with the development of cancer should be coded as 50% Cancer and 50% Infection.
Studies of the normal role of oncogenes, tumour suppressor genes, and cell cycle checkpoints in a non diseased cell should be coded as 50% Generic Health Relevance and 50% Cancer.
Excludes general studies of angiogenesis which should be coded as Cardiovascular. However the development of anti-angiogenic drugs to inhibit tumour growth would be coded as Cancer.
Excludes normal studies of cell cycle and DNA replication and repair which should be coded as Generic.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Cancer | Cancer |
HRCS_HC_02CAN |
Related external links
International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10 v2016) – Chapter II: Neoplasms (C00-D48)