AvonCAP GP2: general practice study about chest infections
This study is about chest infections and worsening of asthma, COPD and heart failure. Our aim is to record every adult case with this diagnosis in the GP surgeries taking part in the AvonCAP GP2 Study.
We want to understand:
- what impact these illnesses have on patients and the NHS;
- how many of these illnesses could be prevented by vaccination (e.g. with COVID vaccines and other vaccines that are being developed); and
- what groups of patients might benefit most from vaccination.
Following on, people aged 18 or over who have a possible chest infection or worsening of asthma, COPD or heart failure will be invited to take part.
For patients who choose to take part, we will:
- collect information (data) from their GP records about them and their illness;
- collect samples from their nose, throat, saliva and urine; and
- ask them to complete a diary about their symptoms and wellbeing.
We will send participants 'Love to Shop' vouchers to reimburse them for their time.
This study is led by researchers at the University of Bristol and is funded by Pfizer. The study has ethical approval.
Short explanation films
We have worked with public contributors from diverse ethnic groups to create two short explanation films:
About the AvonCAP GP2 Study and how to take part
Data only - AvonCAP GP2 Study and how to take part
People who find it difficult to read or fill out forms
We would love you to take part. Please watch the explanation films. Our team is here to help and can talk you through what to do. Let us know how we can help.
Opting out
For patients who opt out of the study, we will collect a small amount of non-identifiable data including their age, gender, ethnic group, a measure of how wealthy the area where they live is, their qualifying illness (e.g. a chest infection or worsening of asthma, COPD or heart failure), how bad their illness is (mild, moderate or severe), the date of their qualifying illness and the type of setting they were seen for their illness (e.g. GP practice, out-of-hours GP, Emergency Department). Collecting this information is important as it will allow us to estimate the number of chest infections more accurately and to capture if there is a difference between patients who choose to take part and patients who choose not to take part.For more information, click here.
People we are unable to contact
Wherever possible, the study team will ask people for permission to use their data.Sometimes, despite efforts to contact the patient, we will be unable to make contact. To get a more complete picture of the number of chest infections, we would still like to include their information in the study even without consent. We hold specific approval from the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality Advisory Group to undertake research using this data without individual consent. The data will be anonymised - there will be no way of identifying the patient from the data.
