Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1997;75(5):417–426.

Efficiency of EPI cluster sampling for assessing diarrhoea and dysentery prevalence.

S S Yoon 1, J Katz 1, K Brendel 1, K P West Jr 1
PMCID: PMC2487016  PMID: 9447775

Abstract

This study examines the efficiency of EPI cluster sampling in assessing the prevalence of diarrhoea and dysentery. A computer was used to simulate fieldwork carried out by a survey taker. The bias and variance of prevalence estimates obtained using EPI cluster sampling were compared with those obtained using simple random sampling and cluster (stratified random) sampling. Efficiency ratios, calculated as the mean square error divided by total distance travelled, were used to compare EPI cluster sampling to simple random sampling and standard cluster sampling. EPI cluster sampling may be an appropriate low-cost tool for monitoring trends in the prevalence of diarrhoea and dysentery over time. However, it should be used with caution when estimating the prevalence of diarrhoea at a single point in time because of the bias associated with this cluster sampling method.

Full text

PDF
417

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Auer C., Tanner M. Childhood vaccination in a squatter area of Manila: coverage and providers. Soc Sci Med. 1990;31(11):1265–1270. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(90)90134-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bennett S., Radalowicz A., Vella V., Tomkins A. A computer simulation of household sampling schemes for health surveys in developing countries. Int J Epidemiol. 1994 Dec;23(6):1282–1291. doi: 10.1093/ije/23.6.1282. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bennett S., Woods T., Liyanage W. M., Smith D. L. A simplified general method for cluster-sample surveys of health in developing countries. World Health Stat Q. 1991;44(3):98–106. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Black R. E., Brown K. H., Becker S., Alim A. R., Merson M. H. Contamination of weaning foods and transmission of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhoea in children in rural Bangladesh. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1982;76(2):259–264. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(82)90292-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Black R. E., Brown K. H., Becker S. Malnutrition is a determining factor in diarrheal duration, but not incidence, among young children in a longitudinal study in rural Bangladesh. Am J Clin Nutr. 1984 Jan;39(1):87–94. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/39.1.87. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dabis F., Breman J. G., Roisin A. J., Haba F. Monitoring selective components of primary health care: methodology and community assessment of vaccination, diarrhoea, and malaria practices in Conakry, Guinea. ACSI-CCCD team. Bull World Health Organ. 1989;67(6):675–684. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Frerichs R. R., Tar K. T. Computer-assisted rapid surveys in developing countries. Public Health Rep. 1989 Jan-Feb;104(1):14–23. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Katz J., Carey V. J., Zeger S. L., Sommer A. Estimation of design effects and diarrhea clustering within households and villages. Am J Epidemiol. 1993 Dec 1;138(11):994–1006. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116820. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lemeshow S., Robinson D. Surveys to measure programme coverage and impact: a review of the methodology used by the expanded programme on immunization. World Health Stat Q. 1985;38(1):65–75. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lemeshow S., Tserkovnyi A. G., Tulloch J. L., Dowd J. E., Lwanga S. K., Keja J. A computer simulation of the EPI survey strategy. Int J Epidemiol. 1985 Sep;14(3):473–481. doi: 10.1093/ije/14.3.473. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Melgaard B., Mutie D. M., Kimani G. A cluster survey of mortality due to neonatal tetanus in Kenya. Int J Epidemiol. 1988 Mar;17(1):174–177. doi: 10.1093/ije/17.1.174. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Pelletier D. L., Frongillo E. A., Jr, Schroeder D. G., Habicht J. P. The effects of malnutrition on child mortality in developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 1995;73(4):443–448. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pradhan E. K., Katz J., LeClerq S. C., West K. P., Jr Data management for large community trials in Nepal. Control Clin Trials. 1994 Jun;15(3):220–234. doi: 10.1016/0197-2456(94)90059-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sachdev H. P., Kumar S., Singh K. K., Satyanarayana L., Puri R. K. Risk factors for fatal diarrhea in hospitalized children in India. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1991 Jan;12(1):76–81. doi: 10.1097/00005176-199101000-00016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Savarino S. J., Bourgeois A. L. Diarrhoeal disease: current concepts and future challenges. Epidemiology of diarrhoeal diseases in developed countries. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1993 Dec;87 (Suppl 3):7–11. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(93)90529-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. West K. P., Jr, Khatry S. K., LeClerq S. C., Adhikari R., See L., Katz J., Shrestha S. R., Pradhan E. K., Pokhrel R. P., Sommer A. Tolerance of young infants to a single, large dose of vitamin A: a randomized community trial in Nepal. Bull World Health Organ. 1992;70(6):733–739. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Zöllner E., Carlier N. D. Breast-feeding and weaning practices in Venda, 1990. S Afr Med J. 1993 Aug;83(8):580–583. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES