Academic Impact of a Public Electronic Health Database: Bibliometric Analysis of Studies Using the General Practice Research Database

[Eugene Garfield]

Academic Impact of a Public Electronic Health Database: Bibliometric Analysis 
of Studies Using the General Practice Research Database

Author(s): Chen, YC (Chen, Yu-Chun); Wu, JC (Wu, Jau-Ching); Haschler, I 
(Haschler, Ingo); Majeed, A (Majeed, Azeem); Chen, TJ (Chen, Tzeng-Ji); 
Wetter, T (Wetter, Thomas)
Source: PLOS ONE  Volume: 6  Issue: 6  Article Number: e21404  DOI: 
10.1371/journal.pone.0021404  Published: JUN 22 2011  

Abstract: Background: Studies that use electronic health databases as 
research material are getting popular but the influence of a single electronic 
health database had not been well investigated yet. The United Kingdom's 
General Practice Research Database (GPRD) is one of the few electronic health 
databases publicly available to academic researchers. This study analyzed 
studies that used GPRD to demonstrate the scientific production and academic 
impact by a single public health database. 
Methodology and Findings: A total of 749 studies published between 1995 and 
2009 with 'General Practice Research Database' as their topics, defined as 
GPRD studies, were extracted from Web of Science. By the end of 2009, the 
GPRD had attracted 1251 authors from 22 countries and been used extensively 
in 749 studies published in 193 journals across 58 study fields. Each GPRD study 
was cited 2.7 times by successive studies. Moreover, the total number of GPRD 
studies increased rapidly, and it is expected to reach 1500 by 2015, twice the 
number accumulated till the end of 2009. Since 17 of the most prolific authors 
(1.4% of all authors) contributed nearly half (47.9%) of GPRD studies, success 
in conducting GPRD studies may accumulate. The GPRD was used mainly in, but 
not limited to, the three study fields of "Pharmacology and Pharmacy", "General 
and Internal Medicine', and "Public, Environmental and Occupational Health". 
The UK and United States were the two most active regions of GPRD studies. 
One-third of GRPD studies were internationally co-authored. 
Conclusions: A public electronic health database such as the GPRD will promote 
scientific production in many ways. Data owners of electronic health databases 
at a national level should consider how to reduce access barriers and to make 
data more available for research.

Language: English
Document Type: Article
KeyWords Plus: CARE UTILIZATION DATABASES; EPIDEMIOLOGIC RESEARCH; 
INSURANCE RESEARCH; DRUG SAFETY; CLAIMS DATA; 
PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY; GROWTH

Addresses: [Chen, YC; Haschler, I; Wetter, T] Univ Heidelberg, Dept Med 
Informat, Heidelberg, Germany
[Chen, YC; Wu, JC] Natl Yang Ming Univ, Sch Med, Taipei 112, Taiwan
[Wu, JC] Natl Yang Ming Univ, Inst Pharmacol, Taipei 112, Taiwan
[Wu, JC] Taipei Vet Gen Hosp, Dept Neurosurg, Taipei, Taiwan
[Majeed, A] Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Dept Publ Hlth & 
Primary Care, London, England
[Chen, TJ] Natl Yang Ming Univ, Inst Hosp & Hlth Care Adm, Taipei 112, Taiwan
[Chen, TJ] Taipei Vet Gen Hosp, Dept Family Med, Taipei, Taiwan
Reprint Address: Chen, YC (reprint author), Univ Heidelberg, Dept Med 
Informat, Heidelberg, Germany

E-mail Address: Yu-Chun.Chen at stud.uni-heidelberg.de
ISSN: 1932-6203
Open Accss: 
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.002140
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