PMID- 17517808
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20080418
LR  - 20191210
IS  - 0300-5771 (Print)
IS  - 0300-5771 (Linking)
VI  - 36
IP  - 4
DP  - 2007 Aug
TI  - A field test of three LQAS designs to assess the prevalence of acute 
      malnutrition.
PG  - 858-64
AB  - BACKGROUND: The conventional method for assessing the prevalence of Global Acute 
      Malnutrition (GAM) in emergency settings is the 30 x 30 cluster-survey. This 
      study describes alternative approaches: three Lot Quality Assurance Sampling 
      (LQAS) designs to assess GAM. The LQAS designs were field-tested and their 
      results compared with those from a 30 x 30 cluster-survey. METHODS: Computer 
      simulations confirmed that small clusters instead of a simple random sample could 
      be used for LQAS assessments of GAM. Three LQAS designs were developed (33 x 6, 
      67 x 3, Sequential design) to assess GAM thresholds of 10, 15 and 20%. The 
      designs were field-tested simultaneously with a 30 x 30 cluster-survey in Siraro, 
      Ethiopia during June 2003. Using a nested study design, anthropometric, morbidity 
      and vaccination data were collected on all children 6-59 months in sampled 
      households. Hypothesis tests about GAM thresholds were conducted for each LQAS 
      design. Point estimates were obtained for the 30 x 30 cluster-survey and the 33 x 
      6 and 67 x 3 LQAS designs. RESULTS: Hypothesis tests showed GAM as <10% for the 
      33 x 6 design and GAM as > or =10% for the 67 x 3 and Sequential designs. Point 
      estimates for the 33 x 6 and 67 x 3 designs were similar to those of the 30 x 30 
      cluster-survey for GAM (6.7%, CI = 3.2-10.2%; 8.2%, CI = 4.3-12.1%, 7.4%, CI = 
      4.8-9.9%) and all other indicators. The CIs for the LQAS designs were only 
      slightly wider than the CIs for the 30 x 30 cluster-survey; yet the LQAS designs 
      required substantially less time to administer. CONCLUSIONS: The LQAS designs 
      provide statistically appropriate alternatives to the more time-consuming 30 x 30 
      cluster-survey. However, additional field-testing is needed using independent 
      samples rather than a nested study design.
FAU - Deitchler, Megan
AU  - Deitchler M
AD  - Academy for Educational Development, FANTA Project, Washington DC 20009, USA. 
      mdeitchl@aed.org
FAU - Valadez, Joseph J
AU  - Valadez JJ
FAU - Egge, Kari
AU  - Egge K
FAU - Fernandez, Soledad
AU  - Fernandez S
FAU - Hennigan, Mary
AU  - Hennigan M
LA  - eng
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Evaluation Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
DEP - 20070521
PL  - England
TA  - Int J Epidemiol
JT  - International journal of epidemiology
JID - 7802871
SB  - IM
CIN - Int J Epidemiol. 2007 Aug;36(4):864-5. PMID: 17596279
MH  - Acute Disease
MH  - Child
MH  - Cluster Analysis
MH  - *Computer Simulation
MH  - *Developing Countries
MH  - Ethiopia/epidemiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Malnutrition/*epidemiology
MH  - Nutrition Surveys
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - Quality Assurance, Health Care/*methods
MH  - Research Design
MH  - Sampling Studies
MH  - *Starvation
EDAT- 2007/05/23 09:00
MHDA- 2008/04/19 09:00
CRDT- 2007/05/23 09:00
PHST- 2007/05/23 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2008/04/19 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/05/23 09:00 [entrez]
AID - dym092 [pii]
AID - 10.1093/ije/dym092 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Epidemiol. 2007 Aug;36(4):858-64. doi: 10.1093/ije/dym092. Epub 2007 May 
      21.