New Method to Estimate Mortality in Crisis-Affected Populations

The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance II Project (FANTA-2) has prod- uced the report 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 populationbased 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 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.
The report and three calculators for analysis of data collected using the EM method, can be downloaded from FANTA-2's website at www.fanta-2.org or contact: Kathleen M. MacDonald, Academy for Educational Development, Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project II, 1825 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009-5721 Tel. 202-884-8359 Fax 202-884-8432 email: kmacdonald@aed.org
More like this
en-net: 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...
FEX: How many lives do our CMAM programmes save? A sampling-based approach to estimating the number of deaths averted by the Nigerian CMAM programme
By Assaye Bulti (UNICEF), Stanley Chitekwe (UNICEF), Chloe Puett (ACF), and Mark Myatt (Brixton Health) Assaye Bulti is responsible for managing routine nutrition programme...
FEX: Postscript on measuring mortality rates in cross-sectional surveys: a commentary
Bradley A.Woodruff, MD MPH, Medical Epidemiologist International Emergency and Refugee Health Branch U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Congratulations to Mark...
FEX: Cross-sectional assessment of retrospective mortality in humanitarian emergencies
Summary of published research1 A scene from Port au Prince, Haiti, following the earthquake 6 days earlier. The rates and causes of mortality are critical indicators of the...
FEX: ENN report of Washington CTC meeting 2005
A new ENN publication on operational challenges of implementing therapeutic care is now available. The report summarises key elements of the presentations and discussions that...
FEX: New FANTA Technical Guide on Measuring Household Food Consumption
Many private voluntary organisations (PVOs) are engaged in projects aimed at improving food security and household nutrition worldwide. Increasingly they are being asked to...
FEX: Alternative Sampling Designs for Emergency Settings
The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance II Project (FANTA-2) has recently released new guidance material on survey sampling in emergencies. 'Alternative Sampling Designs...
FEX: Patterns of mortality rates in Darfur
Summary of published research1 Several mortality estimates for the Darfur conflict have been reported since 2004, but few accounted for conflict dynamics such as changing...
FEX: FANTA Review of Essential Nutrition Actions in Ethiopia
The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project has announced the release of the Review of Incorporation of Essential Nutrition Actions into Public Health...
en-net: Confusion over CDR and U5DR sample size calculation
Hi, I recall reading in SMART manual that if U5DR is one of the objectives of the surveys apart from CDR a separate sample size calculation should be done for U5DR. However,...
FEX: Workshop on the Integration of Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM)
Date: April 28-April 30, 2008 The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project is hosting a Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) international...
en-net: Is mortality survey a must to be conducted along with SMART?
In every SMART survey, I am looking mortality assessment attached to it. is it a must? Unless the situation is emergency where there is no information or unless there is a...
en-net: MUAC and Mortality relationship
I have found a nutritional survey report conducted in Sudan with GAM of 27.0% and SAM of 7.5%, while the U5MR IS 1.19/10 000/day using ENA for SMART software. Does this result...
en-net: Relationship between Mortality and Acute Malnutrition
In most surveys I have seen, there is a positive linear relationship between CMR/U5MR and acute malnutrition. Also, the report...
en-net: Impact of CMAM
I am working as Provincial Coordinator Nutrition Cell Government of Balochistan (Pakistan). We have been implementing CMAM in food insecure districts of our province from the...
FEX: A method for estimating mortality rates using previous birth history
By Mark Myatt, Anna Taylor and W. Courtland Robinson Mark Myatt is a consultant epidemiologist and senior fellow at University College London. His areas of expertise include...
en-net: Expert opinion on excess death count.
Hello experts in the house , I was playing with some numbers today and I came up with two different conclusion based on two different approaches that left me wondering which...
FEX: HIV and nutrition: recommendations for nutritional care and support
Summary of a review1 HIV/AIDS and malnutrition are inextricably interrelated. Research suggests that malnutrition increases the risk of HIV transmission from mothers to babies...
FEX: HIV/AIDS: A Guide for Nutritional Care and Support
The second edition of the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) publication, HIV/AIDS: A Guide For Nutritional Care and Support1 , is now available, made possible...
FEX: Integrating anaemia analysis in SMART surveys in Bolivia
By Susana Moreno, Brigitt Olagivel and Elisa Dominguez Susana Moreno Romero is the Nutrition Programme Manager for Acción contra el Hambre (ACH) (Action Against Hunger -...
Reference this page
New Method to Estimate Mortality in Crisis-Affected Populations. Field Exchange 36, July 2009. p16. www.ennonline.net/fex/36/method
(ENN_3937)