Research infrastructure for epidemiological studies using the Québec BCG vaccination registry

Université du Québec - Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Quebec, Québec
What the facility does

Population health, epidemiology, vaccination

Areas of expertise

The registry includes some 4 million records of pre-vaccination skin tests and vaccination events that occurred in the province from 1926 to 1993. Each entry includes information about the skin test (type, date, and skin reaction), the current vaccination (type, date) and previous vaccinations (date), as well as the institution or region where the vaccination occurred.

A searchable database enables authorized research personnel to easily access the data. The research team has demonstrated that the resulting electronic registry is very thorough and accurate, and it can be successfully linked with other administrative databases.

The data can be used in large scale research projects on population health.

Research services

The computerized version of the registry is used for data processing and cleaning, generating statistics about the population, and producing historical reports on the provincial tuberculosis prevention program (1949–1974). Multivariable regression analyses are performed in order to study indirect and long-term effects of the vaccine on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. This infrastructure is at the core of many students’ training (B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D.).

Sectors of application
  • Healthcare and social services
Equipment in useFunction
Server

Data storage, management, and backup

Shared data access for authorized research team members

Electronic version of the registry (computerized database)

Database within a FileMaker interface

Enables data consultation and cleaning

Enables data exportation to various statistical software programs

ComputersEnables consultation and analyses of registry data
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé
  • Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute
  • Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada
  • Institut de la statistique du Québec
  • Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec