Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.


COMPUTE PROGRAMME STEERING COMMITTEE AND STAKEHOLDER (PPIE) GROUP

Click here to view our members and biographies

Background:

Why is this research important?

Over a quarter of adults in England have more than one health condition. By 2035 this is expected to increase by 10-17%. Having more than one condition is called ‘multiple long-term conditions’ (MLTC), previously known as Multimorbidity. The more conditions someone has, the more disabling the effects.

MLTC is difficult for patients and carers: taking more medicines (with possible problems caused by conflicting or simply too many medications); the cost and wasted time of attending too many healthcare appointments, and the day-to-day challenges of living with multiple conditions.

This study hopes to predict who will suffer from MLTC and how MLTC will progress over a person’s lifetime. Previous research has focused on looking at the causes of MLTC, however, much is still unknown about why certain conditions appear together, and how they relate to normal ageing, prevention, and appropriate care. Also, although the NHS currently invests significant amounts of money in trying to prevent specific health conditions (e.g. heart disease, cancer), many people do not engage. This is a missed opportunity to prevent future ill health. 

 CoMPuTE Logic Map simplified.jpg

Methods

Aim

This project looks at whether using artificial intelligence (AI) can help us predict those more likely to develop MLTC – to get help sooner to those who need it and prevent people from developing MLTC in the first place.

How  will we do this?

Regular computer models are already used for research on electronic health records. We want to use AI techniques to process this information faster and more accurately. The data will be ‘anonymised’ so it cannot be traced to individuals. Because many people have concerns about how their data are used, members of the public have been involved in this work from the beginning and will be involved throughout. A public member leads one section of work. Other public members work on an equal level with academic researchers.

  • This study hopes to see whether it is possible to predict who will suffer from MLTC and how MLTC will progress over a person’s lifetime.
  • It will investigate inequalities and the health and financial burden of MLTC.
  • It brings in the public perspective on ethical and social questions about the use of AI in healthcare. Members of often-excluded communities will be actively involved in discussion groups, the development of study materials and the writing of papers. This is important to ensure that plans to help people with MLTC address everyone’s health and care needs.

The amount of public participation and leadership in this project makes it unique. One-third of the project is entirely public-led.

The project is organised into three different themes based on the three main aims:

   I.        To harness the power of longitudinal Electronic Health Records to develop AI-enhanced models and tools and improve the management (prevention and treatment) of mid-life and early old age MLTC and Complex-MLTC. (Theme 1)

    II.        To characterise the epidemiology, inequalities and costs of Complex-MLTC by clusters of disease trajectories identified in mid-life and early old age. (Theme 2)

    III.        To ensure decision-making tools and other outputs are fit-for-purpose and account for actual lived care needs and, therefore, serve the needs and expectations of target audiences. (Theme 3)

What we will do with the findings

This programme will use innovative AI techniques, causal inference, qualitative methods, and public leadership to improve our understanding of Complex-MLTC and their management. We will use multiple dissemination channels, including publications in high-impact journals alongside news media and web presentations, with an equal emphasis on impactful direct-to-public dissemination. This will include:

  • Channels as determined by a stakeholder workshop to ensure comprehensive, impactful dissemination and uptake of the results
  • International conference presentations
  • Guidelines for the management of MLTC, implemented through Academic Health Science Networks and feeding into subsequent NICE guidance.
  • Web presentation of the primary results including video clips and research blogs.
  • Prototype dashboard for managing MLTC.

Adoption of NICE guidelines for prescribing in general and management of MLTC, in particular, will provide national guidance.

Who We Are

Lead applicant Professor Rafael Perera is Professor of Medical Statistics, Lead for the Thames Valley Applied Research Collaborative and Deputy Lead for the Oxford British Research Council multimorbidity themes and has studied long-term conditions. He has overall responsibility for managing the teams, ensuring cross-speciality communication and learning, and ensuring that the work progresses to time. He leads a team of data scientists, social scientists, statisticians, epidemiologists, psychiatrists and philosophers, who together have a broad spectrum of experience which they bring to addressing the problem of analysing the causes and development of multimorbidity.

Theme leads:

Theme 1: AI and NHS Capability Theme, Associate Professor Clare Bankhead

Theme 2: Epidemiology, Inequalities and Health Economics Theme, Associate Professor Derrick Bennett

Theme 3: Ethics, Patients and the Public Theme, Anica Alvarez Nishio 

 

Contact details: nicola.pidduck@phc.ox.ac.uk / julie.mclellan@phc.ox.ac.uk

Glossary

Artificial Intelligence: the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

Complex-Multiple Long-Term Conditions: Four or more concurrent conditions

 

Further information:

Full project title: 
CoMPuTE: Complex Multiple long-term conditions Phenotypes, Trends, and Endpoints

Length of project:
June 2023 - April 2028

Funder: 

NIHR_Logos_Funded by_COL_RGB.jpg

Co-applicants:

  • Professor Clare Bankhead - Epidemiologist, Lead for CPRD team, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Ms Anica Alvarez Nishio – Stakeholder Engagement Consultant and AI Ethicist
  • Professor Derrick Bennett – Senior Statistician, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford
  • Professor Carl Heneghan - Director of Centre for Evdence Based Medicince, Director of Programs in Evidence Based HealthCare, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Professor David Steinsaltz Senior Statistician, Department of Statistics, University of Oxford
  • Professor Tingting Zhu - Biomedical Engineer, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford
  • Professor Andrew Clegg - Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Honorary Consultant Geriatrician at Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford Institute for Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Leeds
  • Professor Amitava Banerjee - Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Cardiology at Institute of Health Informatics, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London
  • Professor Catherine Pope - Professor of Medical Sociology, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Professor Apostolos Tsiachristas -  Heath Economist, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Professor James Sheppard - Population Health Scientist, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Dr Samuel Relton - Senior Research Fellow in Health Data Analytics, School of Medicine, University of Leeds
  • Professor Paul Taylor - Professor of Health Informatics, Institute of Health Informatics, University College London
  • Professor Mark Sheehan - Associate Professor of Philosophy, Ethics Fellow Oxford Biomedical Research Centre Ethics Fellow, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford
  • Professor Kamaldeep Bhui – Professor of Psychiatry, Senior Clinical Researcher, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Professor Brian Nicholson - NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer, General Practitioner, Departmental Cancer Lead, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford

Collaborators:

  • Dr Oliver Todd - NIHR Academic Clinical LecturerMedical doctor specialising in the Care of Older People, University of Leeds
  • Dr Benjamin CairnsDirector of Biostatistics, Our Future Health UK 
  • Professor John Powell Professor of Digital Health Care, NIHR Senior Investigator, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford
  • Dr Mei Chan - Consultant epidemiologist, statistician and actuary,  Lane, Clare and Peacock LLP

 

UCL.jpeg

 

Leeds.jpeg