Databases → Taiwan
The National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD, research data since 2000) sits at the centre of a tightly linked set of national registries and survey datasets. Hover (or tap) any box on the diagram to see what it contains.
Diagram adapted from the Population Health Data Center (PHDc), National Cheng Kung University. Hover any box (desktop) or tap it (mobile) to reveal the dataset description; tap outside to dismiss.
Claims · All citizens · ~23 million individuals
National Health Insurance Research Database — universal single-payer claims covering essentially the entire Taiwanese population since 1995. 70+ billion records and 3.4 billion medical images as of 2024, now including structured laboratory and imaging data.
Maternal & Child Health Database
Linked Mother · Father · Child records
Multi-generational linkage joining birth certificate data with NHI claims for mother, father, and child — enabling perinatal exposure / paediatric outcome studies.
Exercises · Diets · Health behaviors
National Health Interview Survey — population-based survey on lifestyle factors (physical activity, diet, smoking, alcohol, sleep) conducted by the Health Promotion Administration.
Health Examination
Laboratory
Adult preventive health examination records covered by NHI — biochemistry, haematology, urinalysis, and lifestyle interview data.
Vaccine · Confirmed cases
Taiwan CDC pandemic data — national COVID-19 vaccination records and confirmed-case surveillance, linkable to NHIRD via national identifier.
Gene · ~200k individuals
Population-based biomedical biobank linking genomic, lifestyle, and clinical data from community participants. Target: 1 million individuals.
ART · IVF · ~400k records
Assisted Reproductive Database — national registry of assisted reproductive technology procedures including IVF, conducted by the Health Promotion Administration.
~100k records / year
National birth registration — captures every live birth in Taiwan with maternal / paternal identifiers, anchor record for the Maternal & Child Health linkage.
NIIS
Vaccine
National Immunization Information System — centralised individual-level vaccination records (childhood, adult, travel, COVID-19).
National cancer surveillance
National cancer surveillance registry maintained by the Health Promotion Administration — captures incident cancer diagnoses with staging, histology, and treatment, nationwide since 2003.
National death registry
National death registration data with ICD-coded underlying and contributing causes of death — administered by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Severe / chronic disease status
Registry of patients qualifying for catastrophic-illness status under NHI (cancers, autoimmune disease, severe mental illness, end-stage renal disease, etc.) — confers fee waivers and is widely used as an outcome gold-standard.
OMOP Common Data Model
NHIRD mapped to the OMOP Common Data Model (Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics) — enables federated analyses across the global OHDSI network.
FDA Sentinel Common Data Model
NHIRD mapped to the FDA Sentinel Common Data Model — supports drug-safety surveillance studies using protocols harmonised with the US Sentinel System.
EHR · ~1 million individuals
Chang Gung Research Database — standardised multi-institutional electronic medical records from seven Chang Gung Memorial Hospitals, research data available since 2011 with ~1-month latency.
Source: Population Health Data Center (PHDc), NCKU. Dataset descriptions are paraphrased; please consult PHDc or the respective Taiwan government agency for canonical, up-to-date information.
