Table 1.
Summary of the average contributions of predictor variables using a boosted regression trees (Model VII) developed with cross-validation over 25 bootstraps
| Predictor | Relative contribution (%) |
|---|---|
| Child specific predictors | |
| Age in months | 5.01 (SD 0.25) |
| Gender | 0.38 (SD 0.05) |
| Malaria testing method | 1.29 (SD 0.24) |
| Slept under a net | 0.47 (SD 0.08) |
| Slept under ITN | 0.59 (SD 0.09) |
| Fever in last 2 weeks | 1.37 (SD 0.1) |
| Fever treatment | 1.82 (SD 0.17) |
| Treatment with anti-malarial | 0.43 (SD 0.06) |
| Mothers age in years | 6.33 (SD 0.23) |
| Mothers education level | 1.38 (SD 0.15) |
| Household level predictors | |
| HH with IRS | 1.47 (SD 0.15) |
| Per capita net ownership | 0.64 (SD 0.11) |
| Wealth index | 3.43 (SD 0.31) |
| Cluster level predictors | |
| Population density | 9.55 (SD 0.46) |
| CSO urban | 1.5 (SD 0.2) |
| Enhanced vegetation index (EVI) | 4.18 (SD 0.2) |
| Annual mean temperature | 16.68 (SD 0.64) |
| Temperature suitability index (TSI) | 5.15 (SD 0.43) |
| Annual mean precipitation | 14.19 (SD 0.37) |
| Malaria seasonality (>60%) | 0.15 (SD 0.03) |
Between-country effects controlled for in the model accounts for 24% not represented in the table. The effect of country-specific factors not collected in DHS/MICS datasets not accounted for in the BRT models. Results shown for Model VII that includes population density, urbanization and a common set of confounding variables