Population-based registers in psychiatric research

Abstract

This article reviews the use of population-based registers in psychiatric research. The use of population-based registers is discussed in the context of the alternative of using primarily collected data for psychiatric epidemiological studies. It is concluded that case registers often offer an advantageous alternative to primarily collected data in terms of sample size, representativity, and the absence of recall bias, whereas a lack of relevant information for a particular study may detract from the usefulness of this type of data. Examples are given of uses of psychiatric case register data for research purposes, and ways of minimizing the difficulties in the use of such data are discussed. It is concluded that case registers constitute a very valuable resource for psychiatric epidemiologic research, and that such data collections can be maintained and used for research purposes at the same time as the integrity of the individuals recorded in the case registers is protected.

Key Words:

• Case registers
• Methodology
• Psychiatric epidemiology
• Record linkage studies