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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
Rural Outreach Program
ISSN: 1684-5358 EISSN: 1684-5358
Vol. 12, No. 7, 2012, pp. 6987-7000
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Bioline Code: nd12105
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Vol. 12, No. 7, 2012, pp. 6987-7000
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EXPERIENCE WITH DIGITAL ENTRY OF NATIONAL IODINE SURVEY DATA IN SENEGAL
Siekmans, K; Ngnié-Teta, I; Ndiaye, B & Berti, P
Abstract
There is growing evidence and enthusiasm for the use of technology to enhance
accuracy and speed and minimize the costs of quantitative data surveys. Handheld
computers have the potential to facilitate high quality data collection and timely
analysis for large complex surveys in developing country contexts. The objective of
this paper is to document the experience of using handheld computers for direct data
capture in a national survey to monitor progress toward universal salt iodization in
Senegal. Twenty-five personal digital assistants (PDAs) were programmed and used
by five teams across 13 regions for entering data from 3768 households over a period
of three weeks. The health staff selected to collect the data learned how to manipulate
the PDAs within a short amount of time. The PDAs contributed to improved quality
of data collection due to automatic skipping of non-applicable questions and selection
of individuals eligible for goitre assessment. The PDAs also were programmed to
randomly select one woman and one school-age child within each household for
biochemical sample collection. Data on geographic locations were collected for 82%
of households surveyed using the PDA’s in-built Global Positioning System (GPS)
functionality, which showed the geographical dispersion of these households and
which will be used for analysis of results for key indicators by location. Problems
with household selection processes, identification coding and standardized interview
methods were observed. While costs for printing questionnaires and manual data entry
were saved, significant costs were incurred for PDA technical support by an
international consultant. The use of PDAs significantly reduced data processing time.
Data were stored and downloaded to a central database, with the full dataset and
preliminary results available to stakeholders within one week following the survey
completion. The PDAs are an excellent tool for enhancing capacity to collect complex
household survey data and make it available for analysis in a timely manner. Quality
training and adequate pre-testing of questionnaires are still essential. Increased use of
direct data capture methods in health program design, monitoring and evaluation is
recommended, along with efforts to build local technical capacity.
Keywords
salt iodization, survey, handheld computer, Senegal
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