Linking household survey and health facility data for effective coverage measures: a comparison of ecological and individual linking methods using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in Côte d'Ivoire.

BACKGROUND: Population-based measures of intervention coverage are used in low- and middle-income countries for program planning, prioritization, and evaluation. There is increased interest in effective coverage, which integrates information about service quality or health outcomes. Approaches proposed for quality-adjusted effective coverage include linking data on need and service contact from population-based surveys with data on service quality from health facility surveys. However, there is limited evidence about the validity of different linking methods for effective coverage estimation. METHODS: We collaborated with the 2016 Côte d'Ivoire Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) to link data from a health provider assessment to care-seeking data collected by the MICS in the Savanes region of Côte d'Ivoire. The provider assessment was conducted in a census of public and non-public health facilities and pharmacies in Savanes in May-June 2016. We also included community health workers managing sick children who served the clusters sampled for the MICS. The provider assessment collected information on structural and process quality for antenatal care, delivery and immediate newborn care, postnatal care, and sick child care. We linked the MICS and provider data using exact-match and ecological linking methods, including aggregate linking and geolinking methods. We compared the results obtained from exact-match and ecological methods. RESULTS: We linked 731 of 786 care-seeking episodes (93%) from the MICS to a structural quality score for the provider named by the respondent. Effective coverage estimates computed using exact-match methods were 13%-63% lower than the care-seeking estimates from the MICS. Absolute differences between exact match and ecological linking methods were ±7 percentage points for all ecological methods. Incorporating adjustments for provider category and weighting by service-specific utilization into the ecological methods generally resulted in better agreement between ecological and exact match estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Ecological linking may be a feasible and valid approach for estimating quality-adjusted effective coverage when a census of providers is used. Adjusting for provider type and caseload may improve agreement with exact match results. There remain methodological questions to be addressed to develop guidance on using linking methods for estimating quality-adjusted effective coverage, including the effect of facility sampling and time displacement.

Perspectives and implications of the Improving Coverage Measurement Core Group's validation studies for household surveys.

BACKGROUND: Formal validation studies are of critical importance in determining whether or not household survey questions are providing accurate information on what they intend to measure. These studies supplement an array of methods used to evaluate survey questions. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This paper summarizes the methods used by the two major international household survey programmes - The Demographic and Health Surveys Program (DHS) and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) - to decide on possible modifications to the survey questions, nomenclature, tables, and interpretation of findings over time as additional information on the validity of the questions becomes available. CONCLUSIONS: Validation studies are most useful if they are conducted in a variety of different settings in low- and middle-income countries, preferably using representative samples and procedures that replicate DHS and MICS field conditions. Pilot tests, pre-tests in each country, feedback from interviewers and survey staff, and cognitive interviewing provide additional information about how well survey questions are understood and provide accurate information. The paper provides specific examples of changes that have been made in response to findings from validation studies and changes in international recommendations.

Thermal care of newborns: drying and bathing practices in Malawi and Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Thermal care of newborns is one of the recommended strategies to reduce hypothermia, which contributes to neonatal morbidity and mortality. However, data on these two topics have not been collected at the national level in many surveys. In this study, we examine two elements of thermal care: drying and delayed bathing of newborns after birth with the objectives of examining how two countries collected such data and then looking at various associations of these outcomes with key characteristics. Further, we examine the data for potential data quality issues as this is one of the first times that such data are available at the national level. METHODS: We use data from two nationally-representative household surveys: the Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2014 and the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014. We conduct descriptive analysis of the prevalence of these two newborn practices by various socio-demographic, economic and health indicators. RESULTS: Our results indicate high levels of immediate drying/drying within 1 hour in Malawi (87%). In Bangladesh, 84% were dried within the first 10 minutes of birth. Bathing practices varied in the two settings; in Malawi, only 26% were bathed after 24 hours but in Bangladesh, 87% were bathed after the same period. While in Bangladesh there were few newborns who were never bathed (less than 5%), in Malawi, over 10% were never bathed. Newborns delivered by a skilled provider tended to have better thermal care than those delivered by unskilled providers. CONCLUSION: These findings reveal gaps in coverage of thermal care and indicate the need to further develop the role of unskilled providers who can give unspecialized care as a means to improve thermal care for newborns. Further work to harmonize data collection methods on these topics is needed to ensure comparable data across countries.

Optimizing household survey methods to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals targets 6.1 and 6.2 on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: A mixed-methods field-test in Belize.

BACKGROUND: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require household survey programmes such as the UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) to enhance data collection to cover new indicators. This study aims to evaluated methods for assessing water quality, water availability, emptying of sanitation facilities, menstrual hygiene management and the acceptability of water quality testing in households which are key to monitoring SDG targets 6.1 and 6.2 on drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and emerging issues. METHODS: As part of a MICS field test, we interviewed 429 households and 267 women age 15-49 in Stann Creek, Belize in a split-sample experiment. In a concurrent qualitative component, we conducted focus groups with interviewers and cognitive interviews with respondents during and immediately following questionnaire administration in the field to explore their question comprehension and response processes. FINDINGS: About 88% of respondents agreed to water quality testing but also desired test results, given the potential implications for their own health. Escherichia coli was present in 36% of drinking water collected at the source, and in 47% of samples consumed in the household. Both questions on water availability necessitated probing by interviewers. About one quarter of households reported emptying of pit latrines and septic tanks, though one-quarter could not provide an answer to the question. Asking questions on menstrual hygiene was acceptable to respondents, but required some clarification and probing. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of Belize, this study confirmed the feasibility of collecting information on the availability and quality of drinking water, emptying of sanitation facilities and menstrual hygiene in a multi-purpose household survey, indicating specific areas to improve question formulation and field protocols. Improvements have been incorporated into the latest round of MICS surveys which will be a major source of national data for monitoring of SDG targets for drinking water, sanitation and hygiene and emerging issues for WASH sector programming.

Measuring postnatal care contacts for mothers and newborns: An analysis of data from the MICS and DHS surveys.

BACKGROUND: The postnatal period represents a vulnerable phase for mothers and newborns where both face increased risk of morbidity and death. WHO recommends postnatal care (PNC) for mothers and newborns to include a first contact within 24 hours following the birth of the child. However, measuring coverage of PNC in household surveys has been variable over time. The two largest household survey programs in low and middle-income countries, the UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and USAID-funded Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), now include modules that capture these measures. However, the measurement approach is slightly different between the two programs. We attempt to assess the possible measurement differences that might affect comparability of coverage measures. METHODS: We first review the standard questionnaires of the two survey programs to compare approaches to collecting data on postnatal contacts for mothers and newborns. We then illustrate how the approaches used can affect PNC coverage estimates by analysing data from four countries; Bangladesh, Ghana, Kygyz Republic, and Nepal, with both MICS and DHS between 2010-2015. RESULTS: We found that tools implemented todate by MICS and DHS (up to MICS round 5 and up to DHS phase 6) have collected PNC information in different ways. While MICS dedicated a full module to PNC and distinguishes immediate vs later PNC, DHS implemented a more blended module of pregnancy and postnatal and did not systematically distinguish those phases. The two survey programs differred in the way questions on postnatal care for mothers and newbors were framed. Subsequently, MICS and DHS surveys followed different methodological approach to compute the global indicator of postnatal contacts for mothers and newborns within two days following delivery. Regardless of the place of delivery, MICS estimates for postnatal contacts for mothers and newbors appeared consistently higher than those reported in DHS. The difference was however, far more pronounced in case of newborns. CONCLUSIONS: Difference in questionnaires and the methodology adopted to measure PNC have created comparability issues in the coverage levels. Harmonization of survey instruments on postnatal contacts will allow comparable and better assessment of coverage levels and trends.

Evidence from household surveys for measuring coverage of newborn care practices.

BACKGROUND: Aside from breastfeeding, there are little data on use of essential newborn care practices, such as thermal protection and hygienic cord care, in high mortality countries. These practices have not typically been measured in national household surveys, often the main source for coverage data in these settings. The Every Newborn Action Plan proposed early breastfeeding as a tracer for essential newborn care due to data availability and evidence for the benefits of breastfeeding. In the past decade, a few national surveys have added questions on other practices, presenting an opportunity to assess the performance of early breastfeeding initiation as a tracer indicator. METHODS: We identified twelve national surveys between 2005-2014 that included at least one indicator for immediate newborn care in addition to breastfeeding. Because question wording and reference populations varied, we standardized data to the extent possible to estimate coverage of newborn care practices, accounting for strata and multistage survey design. We assessed early breastfeeding as a tracer by: 1) examining associations with other indicators using Pearson correlations; and 2) stratifying by early breastfeeding to determine differences in coverage of other practices for initiators vs non-initiators in each survey, then pooling across surveys for a meta-analysis, using the inverse standard error as the weight for each observation. FINDINGS: Associations between pairs of coverage indicators are generally weak, including those with breastfeeding. The exception is drying and wrapping, which have the strongest association of any two interventions in all five surveys where measured; estimated correlations for this range from 0.47 in Bangladesh's 2007 DHS to 0.83 in Nepal's 2006 DHS. The contrast in coverage for other practices by early breastfeeding is generally small; the greatest absolute difference was 6.7%, between coverage of immediate drying for newborns breastfed early compared to those who were not. CONCLUSIONS: Early initiation of breastfeeding is not a high performing tracer indicator for essential newborn care practices measured in previous national surveys. To have informative data on whether newborns are getting life-saving services, standardized questions about specific practices, in addition to breastfeeding initiation, need to be added to surveys.

The importance of skin-to-skin contact for early initiation of breastfeeding in Nigeria and Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Skin-to-skin contact (SSC) between mother and newborn offers numerous protective effects, however it is an intervention that has been under-utilized. Our objectives are to understand which newborns in Bangladesh and Nigeria receive SSC and whether SSC is associated with the early initiation of breastfeeding. METHODS: Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data were used to study the characteristics of newborns receiving SSC for non-facility births in Nigeria (DHS 2013) and for both facility and non-facility births in Bangladesh (DHS 2014). Multivariable logistic regression was used to study the association between SSC and early initiation of breastfeeding after controlling for key socio-demographic, maternal and newborn-related factors. RESULTS: Only 10% of newborns in Nigeria and 26% of newborns in Bangladesh received SSC. In the regression models, SSC was significantly associated with the early initiation of breastfeeding in both countries (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 1.15-1.76 for Nigeria; OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.04-1.55, for Bangladesh). Findings from the regression analysis for Bangladesh revealed that newborns born by Cesarean section had a 67% lower odds of early initiation of breastfeeding than those born by normal delivery (OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.26-0.43). Also in Bangladesh newborns born in a health facility had a 30% lower odds of early initiation of breastfeeding than those born in non-facility environments (OR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.92). Early initiation of breastfeeding was significantly associated with parity, urban residence and wealth in Nigeria. Geographic area was significant in the regression analyses for both Bangladesh and Nigeria. CONCLUSIONS: Coverage of SSC is very low in the two countries, despite its benefits for newborns without complications. SSC has the potential to save newborn lives. There is a need to prioritize training of health providers on the implementation of essential newborn care including SSC. Community engagement is also needed to ensure that all women and their families regardless of residence, socio-economic status, place or type of delivery, understand the benefits of SSC and early initiation of breastfeeding.

Does postnatal care have a role in improving newborn feeding? A study in 15 sub-Saharan African countries.

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is known as a key intervention to improve newborn health and survival while prelacteal feeds (liquids other than breastmilk within 3 days of birth) represents a departure from optimal feeding practices. Recent programmatic guidelines from the WHO and UNICEF outline the need to improve newborn feeding and points to postnatal care (PNC) as a potential mechanism to do so. This study examines if PNC and type of PNC provider are associated with key newborn feeding practices: breastfeeding within 1 day and prelacteal feeds. METHODS: We use data from the Demographic and Health Surveys for 15 sub-Saharan African countries to estimate 4 separate pooled, multilevel, logistic regression models to predict the newborn feeding outcomes. FINDINGS: PNC is significantly associated with increased breastfeeding within 1day (OR = 1.35, P < 0.001) but is not associated with PLFs (OR = 1.04, P = 0.195). PNC provided by nurses, midwives and untrained health workers is also associated with higher odds of breastfeeding within 1 day of birth (OR = 1.39, P < 0.001, (OR = 1.95, P < 0.001) while PNC provided by untrained health workers is associated with increased odds of PLFs (OR = 1.20, P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: PNC delivered through customary care may be an effective strategy to improve the breastfeeding within 1 day but not to discourage PLFs. Further analysis should be done to examine how these variables operate at the country level to produce finer programmatic insight.

Does health facility service environment matter for the receipt of essential newborn care? Linking health facility and household survey data in Malawi.

BACKGROUND: Health facility service environment is an important factor for newborns survival and well-being in general and in particular in high mortality settings such as Malawi where despite high coverage of essential interventions, neonatal mortality remains high. The aim of this study is to assess whether the quality of the health service environment at birth is associated with quality of care received by the newborn. METHODS: We used data from the Malawi Millennium Development Goals Endline household survey conducted as part of MICS survey program and Service Provision Assessment Survey carried out in 2014. The analysis is based on 6218 facility births that occurred during the past 2 years. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate random effect models are used to assess the association of health facility service readiness score for normal deliveries and newborn care with newborns receiving appropriate newborn care, defined for this analysis as receiving 5 out of 6 recommended interventions during the first 2 days after birth. RESULTS: Newborns in districts with top facility service readiness score have 1.5 higher odds of receiving appropriate newborn care (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.52, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.19-1.95, P = 0.001), as compared to newborns in districts with a lower facility score after adjusting for potential confounders. Newborns in the Northern region were two times more likely to receive 5 newborn care interventions as compared to newborns in the Southern region (aOR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.50-2.83, P < 0.001). Living in urban or rural areas did not have an impact on receiving appropriate newborn care. CONCLUSIONS: There is need to increase the level of service readiness across all facilities, so that all newborns irrespective of the health facility, district or region of delivery are able to receive all recommended essential interventions. Investments in health systems in Malawi should concentrate on increasing training and availability of health staff in facilities that offer normal delivery and newborn care services at all levels in the country.

The Association Between Health Insurance Coverage and Skilled Birth Attendance in Ghana: A National Study.

OBJECTIVES: Skilled birth attendance (SBA) is a key health intervention used by roughly two-thirds of women in Ghana. The National Health Insurance Scheme provided by the Government of Ghana is widely expected to improve maternal health outcomes by removing financial barriers to health services. In this paper, we examine if indeed health insurance is able to improve SBA, a key maternal outcome. METHODS: We use data from the 2011 Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey implemented by the Ghana Statistical Services with support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). We use a multivariate logistic model controlling for a number of enabling and predisposing factors and past experience with the health system to examine the effect of health insurance on skilled birth attendance. The sample is 2528 women. RESULTS: Our results show that women with health insurance are 47 % more likely to use SBA than women without health insurance. Results also underscore that women with repetitive contact with the health system (such as antenatal care) are more likely to have a skilled delivery (OR 3.00, p value 0.000). We also find that higher parity, rural and poor women are much less likely to use SBA. CONCLUSIONS: Health insurance may indeed be a useful mechanism to improve coverage of SBA, though many barriers to delivery care still exist for women. Further work to understand the effect of health insurance on other maternal outcomes is also warranted.

Understanding caregivers' attitudes towards physical punishment of children: evidence from 34 low- and middle-income countries.

OBJECTIVES: This article presents findings on caregivers' attitudes towards physical punishment of children from 34 household surveys conducted in low- and middle-income countries in 2005 and 2006. The article analyzes the variability in attitudes by background characteristics of the respondents to examine whether various factors at the individual and family levels correlate with the caregivers' beliefs in the need for violent discipline. The article also examines to what extent attitudes influence behaviors and compares groups of respondents to see how attitudes relate to disciplinary practices across caregivers of different socio-economic backgrounds. METHODS: The analysis is based on nationally representative data from 33 MICS and 1 DHS surveys. Questions on child discipline were addressed to the mother (or primary caregiver) of one randomly selected child aged 2-14 years in each household. The questionnaire asked whether any member of the household had used various violent and non-violent disciplinary practices with that child during the past month. Additionally, the interviewers asked the respondent if she believed that, in order to bring up that child properly, physical punishment was necessary. The sample included 166,635 mothers/primary caregivers. RESULTS: The analysis shows that, in most countries, the majority of mothers/primary caregivers did not think there was a need for physical punishment. Overall, characteristics such as household wealth and size, educational level and age, as well as place of residence were significantly associated with caregivers' attitudes. The analysis confirms that beliefs influence disciplinary practices to a large degree: in all the countries but two, children were significantly more likely to experience physical punishment if their mothers/primary caregivers thought such punishment was needed. However, large proportions of children were found to be subject to physical punishment even if their mothers/primary caregivers did not consider this method necessary. This discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors is observed, although to different extents, in all the countries and across groups of mothers/primary caregivers with different levels of education and wealth. CONCLUSIONS: The data presented in this article are among the few resources available to help develop a more global understanding of caregivers' motivation in using violent discipline across a multitude of low- and middle-income countries. As such, the analysis of these data provides important insights for the development of effective strategies that will promote positive parenting practices. However, further data collection and analysis are needed to fully understand the reasons why physical punishment is used - even when caregivers do not think such method is necessary - opening the door for an even sharper programmatic response to change the practice.