Background
The Ontario Asthma Surveillance Information System (OASIS) was established in 2003 to provide a population-based longitudinal surveillance system for asthma. Using a validated algorithm, the OASIS team used the Ontario health administrative databases to assemble a cohort of all individuals in Ontario, aged 0 to 99 years of age, with asthma, from 1996 to present. It continues to provide measures of asthma-related morbidity, mortality, health services use, and provider practice patterns.
Objective
The overall objective of OASIS is to provide ongoing asthma surveillance statistics, including incidence, prevalence and health services use, in Ontario.
Significance
The population-based assessments of asthma health made possible by surveillance will serve as a benchmark to monitor future changes in diagnoses, treatment, management and health services use in asthma. Profiles will be generated by established regional networks (i.e. Local Health Integration Networks) to examine practice variation and to monitor the impact and costs of asthma.
This proposed system lays the foundation for researchers to identify barriers to optimal disease management, risk factors and burden of co-morbidities. It will also assist policy makers in targeting health programs toward populations more accurately in order to develop structures to support effective, efficient and accessible asthma care. In concert with other planned initiatives, this system will prove invaluable in allowing long-term follow-up and assessment of other asthma plan of action initiatives.
Ethics
The OASIS project has undergone the ethical approval process through the Research Ethics Board at SickKids.
Learn more about our Vision, Mission & Methodology.
Funding
OASIS is funded by the Government of Ontario and by the SickKids Foundation.
