BIFAP

BIFAP provides a population-based repository of longitudinal primary care electronic medical records to support pharmacoepidemiological research and regulatory assessment of drug safety and medicine use.

Key Features:

• Management: Managed by the Spanish Agency for Medicines (AEMPS).
• Data type: Contains longitudinal electronic medical records (EMR) from primary care, including documented episodes of care by primary care physicians.
• Clinical variables: Includes socio-demographic information, diagnostic procedure results, lifestyle data, general health metrics, and medical interventions.
• Population scale and updates: Covers data from over 12 million patients with annual updates.
• Linkage: Integrates a portion of hospitalization and specialist care data through linkage with other sources.
• Standardization and validation: Applies data extraction and standardization processes and validates drug and diagnosis definitions.
• Design: Population-based, longitudinal structure suitable for temporal analyses.

Scientific Applications:

• Pharmacoepidemiology: Enables investigation of drug safety, treatment exposures, and outcomes within primary care populations.
• Regulatory support: Provides evidence to inform regulatory decision-making on medicines in Europe.
• Medication use and effectiveness studies: Supports analyses of drug utilization patterns and effectiveness in routine primary care.
• Collaborative research and publication: Serves as a data source for international collaborative projects and peer-reviewed studies on medicine-related issues.

Methodology:

Data extraction and standardization from EMRs provided by regional administrations, validation of drug and diagnosis definitions, and linkage with hospitalization and specialist care sources.