Harnessing routinely collected data for the evaluation of early years interventions: insights from a scoping review of evaluation studies

IntroductionRoutinely collected data (RCD) describes data about individuals that is documented routinely in practice, typically in electronic medical, educational, and service records and registries. Utilisation of RCD for research can overcome limitations with traditional study designs, such as participant burden, attrition and disappointment bias. A systematic understanding of if (and how) RCD is being used to evaluate early years interventions is lacking. ObjectivesTo scope the literature on how RCD is being used to evaluate the effectiveness of early years interventions being delivered in the UK. MethodsThe study protocol was registered online (osf.io/cug36). Included studies were interventions delivered to expectant parents and parents of children aged 0-5 years. Studies had to use a quantitative measure from RCD as an outcome. The study scope was limited to the UK, from January 2000 to November 2024. Completed studies and study protocols were eligible, encompassing both grey literature and peer reviewed sources. Medline, Psycinfo and Embase databases were searched via Ovid. Results31 unique studies published 2009-2024 had used or were planning to use RCD as an outcome in an evaluation of an early years intervention. Most studies measured more than one outcome type, and the most common were birth outcomes and child education. Many studies noted limitations of using RCD, particularly being limited by the measures available in RCD, and fewer noted strengths. ConclusionWhilst the use of RCD expands evaluation opportunities, researchers are limited by what measures are available in RCD. We make four specific recommendations to improve the use of RCD in early years evaluations. With careful consideration, RCD can provide powerful insights regarding the impacts of early years interventions. This scoping review reveals an emerging methodology that may have increasing importance for evaluating early years policies and interventions but remains constrained by data availability and quality.