 A
New Method to Estimate Mortality in Crisis-Affected Populations:
Validation and Feasibility Study
In emergency settings, data on mortality rates and the causes and
circumstances of death are crucial to guide health interventions
and monitor their effectiveness. Current methods to collect such
data require substantial resources and feature important methodological
limitations. In response FANTA with the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, evaluated an alternative approach to obtaining
a population-based measure of mortality, the exhaustive measurement
(EM) method. The EM method captures deaths through an exhaustive
search for all deaths occurring in the community over a defined
and very short recall period. Unlike retrospective surveys, it provides
nearly real-time mortality estimates, which are more useful for
operational purposes in relief settings.
This report, A New Method to Estimate Mortality in Crisis-Affected
Populations: Validation and Feasibility Study, evaluates the
validity of the EM method against a gold standard measure of mortality
based on capture-recapture analysis in various operational settings
(rural, urban, camp). Comparative estimates of the time and cost
required for data collection and analysis using the EM method and
retrospective surveys are provided. Findings from the study suggest
that the performance of EM method is comparable to that of existing
surveillance systems but appears more feasible in terms of time
and financial inputs, as well as ethics, than alternatives. The
method shows sufficient promise to warrant further development.
Additionally, there are three calculators for analysis of data
collected using the EM method (see mortality survey calculators
at top right of this webpage).
Support for this study was provided by USAID's Bureau for Global
Health's Office of Health, Infectious Disease and Nutrition.
Download report [2.66 kb]
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