Community workers contribution for data quality improvement in routine health information system: Live births number estimation by capture recapture method

Abstract

The lack of reliable vital statistics raises questions about the role of the health information system in acquiring such data, which are essential for planning health services and for the general management of the population’s needs. This study analyzed completeness of the vital data registration system and assessed the potential contribution of a community worker network to this system in rural Benin. The capture-recapture method was used in this interventional study to estimate the number of live births from three sources: the Routine Health Information System, the municipality, and community workers in two groups of villages. Log linear modelling was carried out with a Bayesian Information Criterion-weighted estimate of the number of live births. The exhaustiveness of the Routine Health Information System was improved by the contribution of the community workers from 29.3% to 42.5% in the first group, and from 61.7% to 77.5% in the second group. Estimating live births by the capture method in rural settings based on the contribution of community workers could be a more efficient alternative to censuses in acquiring reliable vital statistics.