SCIENTIFIC SESSION

In this session, the aim is to present the CARhES cohort (CArdiovascular Risk factors for HEalth Services research), which the team has only recently begun working with. The intended objectives will be presented, based on their follow-up and analysis, the methodology to be applied and results obtained.

The CARhES cohort is a dynamic, population-based cohort made up of all people aged over 16 in Aragon with a diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes or dyslipidaemia. The quantitative information relating to this cohort comes from Bigan, the Aragonese Big Data platform that integrates the various information sources of the healthcare system. The data obtained will be supplemented with qualitative information obtained from patients with these risk factors for cardiovascular disease, healthcare professionals and managers involved in their care.

Through a mixed approach combining the analysis of these data, the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have had on the care of these patients, on the use of health services and preventive pharmacological treatments, as well as on their health outcomes, will be evaluated. It is also intended to identify possible gender, age-related, socio-economic and geographical inequalities in utilisation, in order to propose measures that will help to the health system to recover and improve its preparedness for possible future crises, from an equity perspective.

The speakers in this session are Isabel Aguilar and Sara Malo. Both are lecturers in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Zaragoza, and members of the Aragon Health Services Research Group (GRISSA). Isabel is a specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health and holds a PhD in Medicine. She has undertaken research fellowships at the University of Liverpool and at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a member of the Aragon Clinical Ethics and Clinical Research Committee, as a methodology expert, and her line of research focuses on analysing health inequalities and the use of health services through the analysis of both surveys and health big data. Sara has a degree in Pharmacy, a Master’s in Public Health and a PhD in Medicine.

Collaborating or lead researcher on various regional, national and international projects related to the study of the use of health services and, especially, of medicines, at the population level. She has completed predoctoral and postdoctoral research fellowships at international research institutions and is currently involved in several collaborations between Spanish and European groups.