Wounds and healing
Advice on health categories
Wounds (including fractures) may result from surgery, disease or trauma / assault.
Only code to Injuries and Accidents if the wounds were a result of accident or injury. Otherwise apply the relevant Health Category if the wound tissue type is specified or Generic Health Relevance if the abstract doesn’t specify a tissue type.
Advice on research activities
Basic cellular mechanisms of wound healing are normal function i.e. 1 Underpinning. However investigation of the cause, diagnosis, treatment and management of wound healing should be assigned to the appropriate Research Activity code.
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
Dermatological conditions and normal skin development and function.
Advice on health categories
Many dermatological conditions are associated with an inflammatory or allergic response. Code to the disease under investigation and not to the accompanying response. This means conditions such as psoriasis and eczema would normally be coded as 100% Skin. However studies of allergies in patients with dermatological conditions can be coded as 50% Inflammatory and Immune System for allergies and 50% Skin.
Similarly infections of the skin should be coded as 100% Infection. However studies of skin infections for patients with pre-existing dermatological conditions can be coded as 50% Infection and 50% Skin.
Studies of ulcers would normally be coded to Skin. However in studies of ulcers in a particular patient population, such as diabetics, the guidance for sequelae and side effects of disease should be followed and the study should be coded to include the additional health category for the underlying condition:
e.g. Venous ulcers would be coded 50% Skin, 50% Cardiovascular.
e.g. Diabetic skin ulcers would be coded 50% Skin, 50% Metabolic and Endocrine.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Skin | Skin |
HRCS_HC_18SKI |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
Research that underpins investigations into the cause, development, detection, treatment and management of diseases, conditions and ill health.
Advice on research activities
This code group is for all types of research into ‘normal’ functions and processes in ‘healthy’ humans or systems.
Excludes research where the main aims relate to investigation of the cause, development, prevention, detection, treatment or management of a disease or condition.
Official terminology
|
Full name of code |
Short name | Unique ID |
| 1 Underpinning research | 1 Underpinning |
HRCS_RAG_1 |
Related external links
Common Scientific Outline (CSO) – 1 Biology
Summary of Underpinning sub-codes
1.1 Normal biological development and functioning
Studies of normal biology including:
- genes and gene products
- molecular, cellular and physiological structures and function
- biological pathways and processes including normal immune function
- developmental studies and normal ageing
- bioinformatics and structural studies
- development and characterisation of model systems
1.2 Psychological and socioeconomic process
Studies that do not address health directly but cover issues that may have a bearing on health and well-being including:
- perception, cognition and learning processes
- social and cultural beliefs
- individual or group characteristics and behaviours
- politics, economies and urban development
- development and characterisation of model systems
1.3 Chemical and physical sciences
Research in chemical and physical sciences that may lead to the future development of diagnostic tools or medical treatments including:
- bioengineering and biophysics
- chemical structures, interactions and properties
- molecular modelling
- material science
1.4 Methodologies and measurements
Development of novel underpinning research measures and analytical methodologies including:
- development of statistical methods and algorithms for genomic analysis
- development of mapping methodologies and novel data comparison methods
- development of biological, psychological and socioeconomic research measures
1.5 Resources and infrastructure (underpinning)
Development and/or distribution of resources for use by the research community including:
- equipment, cell lines, DNA banks, and genomic and proteomic sequence resources
- infrastructure to support research networks, consortia and centres
Main inclusion criteria
Fractures, poisoning and burns.
Advice on health categories
This category is designed to capture research directly relating to external accidents, injuries and physical trauma and should not include endogenous studies of damage such as ischemic injury.
Intervention studies preventing or treating falls should be coded to Injuries and Accidents. It may be appropriate to also code for specific conditions if the study involves a particular patient group.
Excludes studies of wound healing, unless the wound was acquired by accident.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Injuries and accidents | Injuries |
HRCS_HC_09INJ |
Related external links
International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10 v2016) – Chapter XIX: Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T98)
International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10 v2016) – Chapter XX: External causes of morbidity and mortality (V01-Y98)