Cross-sectional survey methods to assess retrospectively mortality in humanitarian emergencies |
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| Authors: | K Lisa Cairns Bradley A Woodruff Mark Myatt Linda Bartlett Howard Goldberg Les Roberts |
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| Institution: | Medical Officer, Global Immunization Division, National Immunization Program, Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States;;Consultant in International Health and Nutrition, Beijing, China;;Senior Research Fellow, University College London, London, United Kingdom;;Associate Scientist, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States;;Associate Director for Global Health, Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, United States;;Associate Clinical Professor, Program on Forced Migration and Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States. |
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| Abstract: | Since the rates and causes of mortality are critical indicators of the overall health of a population, it is important to evaluate mortality even where no complete vital statistics reporting exists. Such settings include humanitarian emergencies. Experience in cross-sectional survey methods to assess retrospectively crude, age-specific, and maternal mortality in stable settings has been gained over the past 40 years, and methods appropriate to humanitarian emergencies have been developed. In humanitarian emergencies, crude and age-specific mortality can be gauged using methods based on the enumeration of individuals resident in randomly selected households—frequently referred to as a household census. Under-five mortality can also be assessed through a modified prior birth history method in which a representative sample of reproductive-aged women are questioned about dates of child births and deaths. Maternal mortality can be appraised via the initial identification of maternal deaths in the study population and a subsequent investigation to determine the cause of each death. |
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| Keywords: | cross-sectional surveys humanitarian emergencies mortality |
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