saildatabank.com).17 18 This brings together, links and useful handbook anonymises the widest possible range of person-based data currently available in the UK. The SAIL Databank

was originally set up by the Health Information Research Unit (HIRU) at the College of Medicine at Swansea University. SID-Cymru is part of the research programme related to the Health e-Research Collaboration UK (HeRC UK), led by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and based in the Centre for the Improvement of Population Health through e-Records Research (CIPHER). CIPHER is a UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) Public Health Research Centre of Excellence set within the College of Medicine at Swansea University. SID-Cymru will provide timely robust data to inform the future strategic direction of and the first step in designing and evaluating effective interventions to prevent suicide. It will use the International Classification of Disease, Tenth Revision,19 (ICD-10) definitions and instructions for classifying causes

of death, which will allow for comparisons with other countries and thus support research of relevance globally. An emphasis will be given to issues where there are opportunities for intervention or where electronic data linkage confers an advantage to its investigation. Aim The main aim is to establish SID-Cymru as a population-based resource for studying factors and service contacts associated with all suicide deaths through routinely collected data linkage case–control studies. Objectives Phase 1 To identify, via the SAIL

Databank, all those with ICD-10 codes for probable and possible suicide in Wales 2003–2011, and matched controls. To explore and address the methodological issues relating to the development of this database of completed suicides, and the linkage of data across different data sets and settings. Phase 2 To investigate risk factors and trends for suicide, including: primary care diagnosis of depression; levels of treatment with antidepressants and trends in such treatment over time; rural and urban geography; Carfilzomib educational attainment; levels of physical illness. To investigate settings and pathways of care where people are in contact with services in the year leading up to their suicide across the whole population and in specific groups such as the elderly. Methods and analyses Design SID-Cymru will facilitate a series of electronic population-based, routinely collected data linkage case–control studies on completed suicide in Wales between 2003 and 2011. Wales has a population of 3.1 million20 and is part of the UK. There are approximately 32 000 deaths of Welsh nationals registered each year of which around 300 (approximately 1%) are registered as suicides.