The impact of juvenile-onset arthritis (JIA) on adult-life: including healthcare utilisation, pregnancy, orthopaedic interventions, and infections

Details

Understanding how juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), the most common chronic inflammatory musculoskeletal disease in children and young people, impacts on adult-life has been prioritised by individuals living with JIA and their families, European arthritis organisations, and national charities. Currently, the lack of information on what happens to children with JIA as they become adults is a huge source of anxiety for young people and their families.

The aim of this PhD is to investigate the impact of JIA on adult-life with respect to healthcare utilisation, pregnancy, orthopaedic interventions, and infection. This PhD will use data from an existing UK inception cohort of JIA, linked with NHS England datasets to:

i. Understand healthcare utilisation of people living with JIA.

ii. Describe pregnancy outcomes in people living with JIA.

iii. Calculate the proportion of people with JIA experiencing orthopaedic interventions.

iv. Calculate the rates of hospitalised infections in people diagnosed with JIA.

These research questions will use multiple datasets. The Childhood Arthritis Prospective Study (CAPS) is a large UK inception cohort of children and young people with JIA from initial paediatric rheumatology appointment, linked with NHS England datasets; HES Outpatient, Admitted Patient Care, Accident and Emergency, and Critical Care data, as well as the Maternity Services Dataset (MSDS), and Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS). There are ~1300 individuals in this linked dataset, with valuable information from initial paediatric rheumatology appointment. In addition, the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) of UK primary care records is available for a cohort of individuals with JIA, also linked to HES Outpatient and Admitted Patient Care, the Mother Baby Link and Pregnancy Register.

Eligibility

Applicants must have obtained or be about to obtain a minimum Upper Second class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK, in the area of epidemiology, science, statistics or mathematics. A Master’s degree in epidemiology/statistics and or experience in data analysis is desirable.

Before you Apply

Applicants must make direct contact with preferred supervisors before applying. It is your responsibility to make arrangements to meet with potential supervisors, prior to submitting a formal online application.

How to Apply

To be considered for this project you MUST submit a formal online application form – on the application form select PhD Epidemiology. Full details on how to apply can be found on the Website: How to apply for postgraduate research at The University of Manchester

If you have any queries regarding making an application please contact our admissions team FBMH.doctoralacademy.admissions@manchester.ac.uk

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion is fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and is at the heart of all of our activities. The full Equality, diversity and inclusion statement can be found on the website: Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI | Postgraduate Research | Biology, Medicine and Health | University of Manchester

Funding Notes

Applications are invited from self-funded students. This project has a Band 0 (Standard) fee. Details of our different fee bands can be found on our website https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/study/research/fees/