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Characteristics of indicators commonly used to justify health programmes. |
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| Established validity as measure of health impact |
Indicator |
General ease of acquiring data to show health effects |
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| Highest |
• Crude Mortality, <5 mortality |
Difficult in rural/diffuse settings, easier in camps |
| • Case fatality rate |
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| High |
• Nutritional status of children |
Easy at the clinic data level, difficult but more valid with population surveys |
| • Disease rates |
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| • Immunisation status of children |
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| • Patient-specific mental health evaluations |
Logistically easy, requires skill on part of evaluator |
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| • Safety of blood supply |
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| Moderate |
• Food-basket evaluations |
Easy in camps, more difficult in more diffuse populations |
| • Water and sanitation availability |
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| • Reduction in measles, mumps and rubella through reproductive health services |
Very difficult to measure even though benefits are likely to be occurring |
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| • Improved patient outcomes via referrals |
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| • Impregnated bednets distributed |
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| • Comprehensive, timely health information system |
Nearly impossible. These are difficult to measure, and all require a series of events to induce a health benefit |
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| • Good coordination between sectors |
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| • Knowledge & attitudes about services available |
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| • Population practices |
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| Low |
• People given seeds and tools, shelter, or other materials |
Easy to measure. Links to health are likely to be mediated via many steps. |
| • Drainage, fly control activities or tasks |
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| • Number of clinic visits |
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| • Distance to facilities, health workers per capita |
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| • Trainings conducted, numbers trained |
Easy to measure. May produce no effects on health. |
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| • Change in knowledge without documented change in behaviour |
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| • Messages/curricula developed |
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Roberts and Hofmann Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2004 1:3 doi:10.1186/1742-7622-1-3 |
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