Innovative tools and OpenHDS for health and demographic surveillance on Rusinga Island, Kenya

Abstract

BackgroundHealth in low and middle income countries is on one hand characterized by a high burden associated with preventable communicable diseases and on the other hand considered to be under-documented due to improper basic health and demographic record-keeping. health and demographic surveillance systems (HDSSs) have provided researchers, policy makers and governments with data about local population dynamics and health related information. In order for an HDSS to deliver high quality data, effective organization of data collection and management are vital. HDSSs impose a challenging logistical process typically characterized by door to door visits, poor navigational guidance, conducting interviews recorded on paper, error prone data entry, an extensive staff and marginal data quality management possibilities.MethodsA large trial investigating the effect of odour-baited mosquito traps on malaria vector populations and malaria transmission on Rusinga Island, western Kenya, has deployed an HDSS. By means of computer tablets in combination with Open Data Kit and OpenHDS data collection and management software experiences with time efficiency, cost effectiveness and high data quality are illustrate. Step by step, a complete organization of the data management infrastructure is described, ranging from routine work in the field to the organization of the centralized data server.Results and discussionAdopting innovative technological advancements has enabled the collection of demographic and malaria data quickly and effectively, with minimal margin for errors. Real-time data quality controls integrated within the system can lead to financial savings and a time efficient work flow.ConclusionThis novel method of HDSS implementation demonstrates the feasibility of integrating electronic tools in large-scale health interventions.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with malnutrition among adolescents in rural Tanzania

“…This web‐based application allowed research assistants to electronically register and collect information about the household and household members. The information was linked to the tablets using wireless synchronization and then sent to the central data store based on the Open Data Kit (ODK) . Six trained research assistants were recruited for the study, two women and four men.…”

A Metadata Driven Module for Managing and Interpreting HDSS Verbal Autopsy Datasets using Interva-4 Model

“…In particular, the unconditional prior causes incorporate minor changes in response to the level of HIV/AIDS and malaria, which are specified by the user. Given the fact that the sources code of InterVA-4 method and software proposed by Byass [19]. These common data classes were hard-coded in the development of the longitudinal data collection tools of HDSS.…”

“…However, one thing is to take into account these best practices in the data reference model, but another is to propose a flexible model that would really allow data managers to develop a precise and reusable dynamic system for all the INDEPTH Network sites. This has inspired the development and the use of OpenHDS which is a metadata driven model based on the static INDEPTH reference data model [19]. Although OpenHDS has an integrated form generation utility for the verbal autopsy data collection, it does not have tools for the interpretation of these dataset.…”

Deployment and Use of Mobile Technology to Control Malaria

“…The data collection questionnaires were designed electronically using ODK which is free open source software. The Open Health and Demographic Surveillance (OpenHDS) data system is a software platform that is based on a centralized database and it was integrated with ODK Aggregate server to collect a continuous demographics, socio economic and individual health data on Rusinga Island HDSS since 2012 [11].…”

“…The systems are built around a core structure that is flexible enough to accommodate most longitudinal studies of populations. Such systems are important in putting together population-based research in areas where national or local authorities lack a proper registration system to monitor important demographic events [11].…”