A partnership between the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) and Health Data Research Network (HDRN) Canada has culminated in an invaluable opportunity for Canadian researchers.

Beginning in 2024, it is anticipated that researchers will be able to apply to access linked CLSA cohort data at provincial data centres in British Columbia, Ontario, and New Brunswick as per data access policies of participating data centres and the CLSA. The linkage of longitudinal CLSA data with multiregional administrative health data offers an unparalleled opportunity to explore the intersection between aging and health-care utilization.

“Our collaboration with HDRN Canada has enabled linkage of CLSA data with administrative health data in three provinces so far, and we are working towards access in all provinces to ensure the research conducted using these data can be multi-jurisdictional and will be able to inform health-care decision-making and evidence-based policy development at multiple levels of government,” said Dr. Parminder Raina, professor and scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) at McMaster University and lead principal investigator of the CLSA.

To access the data, researchers will be required to apply through HDRN Canada’s Data Access Support Hub (DASH), a one-stop shop for researchers who require administrative data from more than one territory or province. DASH provides information on the availability of data assets, common algorithms, and data access processes across Canada, and offers centralized and coordinated data access support.

“This partnership and the linkage of CLSA data through HDRN Canada provincial and territorial data centres opens so many new research possibilities. The deep and extensive data collected by CLSA are powerful on their own. Linkage, with consent, of that information with health-care services data means it is possible to study how health and the need for care change over time, and what individual and social experiences help explain those changes,” said Dr. Kim McGrail, CEO and scientific director of HDRN Canada.

CLSA data holdings at provincial data centres will be limited to alphanumeric data, including questionnaire data and select physical assessment data. Administrative health data holdings may differ from province to province.

Researchers interested in learning more are invited to attend the upcoming webinar, Accessing Linked CLSA data at HDRN Canada Data Centres, on January 17 at Noon ET. The presentation will provide an overview of the CLSA’s national dataset, introduce HDRN Canada and DASH, describe linked data available, and detail the process for access.