Home  About us  Contact
 

Selected Households (selected + household)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences40%

Selected Abstracts

Sampling within households in household surveys

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 1 2007
Robert G. Clark
Summary., The number of people to select within selected households has significant consequences for the conduct and output of household surveys. The operational and data quality implications of this choice are carefully considered in many surveys, but the effect on statistical efficiency is not well understood. The usual approach is to select all people in each selected household, where operational and data quality concerns make this feasible. If not, one person is usually selected from each selected household. We find that this strategy is not always justified, and we develop intermediate designs between these two extremes. Current practices were developed when household survey field procedures needed to be simple and robust; however, more complex designs are now feasible owing to the increasing use of computer-assisted interviewing. We develop more flexible designs by optimizing survey cost, based on a simple cost model, subject to a required variance for an estimator of population total. The innovation lies in the fact that household sample sizes are small integers, which creates challenges in both design and estimation. The new methods are evaluated empirically by using census and health survey data, showing considerable improvement over existing methods in some cases. [source]

Psychological effects of the November 1999 earthquake in Turkey: an epidemiological study

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 3 2003

Objective: This study assessed the traumatic stress symptoms and related factors in two towns affected by two earthquakes, which killed 20 000 people in 1999 in Turkey. Method: A total of 430 people in selected households were seen 18 months after the earthquake. They were given a self-report questionnaire assessing post-traumatic stress (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, demographics and trauma exposure. Results: The rates of PTSD and depression were higher in the site closer to the epicenter. The traumatic stress symptom checklist scores were predicted by fear during earthquake, loss of friends and neighbours, female gender, lower education and living in rented accomodation. Depression was predicted by study site, death of relatives and past psychiatric illness. Conclusion: These results show that severe earthquakes can cause long-lasting morbidity. Our previous findings that showed a differential prediction for depressive and traumatic stress symptoms after earthquakes are also supported. [source]

Should liver function tests be included in definitions of metabolic syndrome?

DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 5 2008
Evidence from the association between liver function tests, components of metabolic syndrome, prevalent cardiovascular disease
Abstract Aims The definition of metabolic syndrome (MS) continues to be debated and does not include abnormal liver function tests (LFTs). This study aims to determine: (1) the association between the five ATP3 MS diagnostic components and different LFTs, and (2) the association between raised LFTs and prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods A total of 1357 patients, without alcoholism or known liver disease, from randomly selected households from rural Victoria, Australia, attended for biomedical assessment. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) areas under the curve (AUC) were determined for associations between the ATP3 diagnostic components, and between LFTs and ATP3 diagnostic components. Results The range of ROC AUC for ATP3 diagnostic components was 0.60,0.77. Waist had the strongest association and blood pressure the weakest. The strength of association between ATP3 diagnostic components and gamma GT (GGT) was similar (0.63,0.72), but was less for alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase. Using the ROC-derived GGT cut-off (men 27 IU, women 20 IU), those with MS and a high GGT had more CVD than those with MS and a low GGT, and those without MS (18% vs. 10% vs. 7%, respectively; P < 0.001). Among those with MS, after adjusting for covariates, the odds ratio of CVD was 2.66 (1.18,5.96) for a high GGT compared to a low GGT. CVD was not significantly more prevalent in MS patients with a low GGT compared to non-MS patients. Conclusions We suggest that including a raised GGT in the criteria for MS could increase its predictive nature for CVD. Prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding. [source]

Sampling within households in household surveys

JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES A (STATISTICS IN SOCIETY), Issue 1 2007
Robert G. Clark
Summary., The number of people to select within selected households has significant consequences for the conduct and output of household surveys. The operational and data quality implications of this choice are carefully considered in many surveys, but the effect on statistical efficiency is not well understood. The usual approach is to select all people in each selected household, where operational and data quality concerns make this feasible. If not, one person is usually selected from each selected household. We find that this strategy is not always justified, and we develop intermediate designs between these two extremes. Current practices were developed when household survey field procedures needed to be simple and robust; however, more complex designs are now feasible owing to the increasing use of computer-assisted interviewing. We develop more flexible designs by optimizing survey cost, based on a simple cost model, subject to a required variance for an estimator of population total. The innovation lies in the fact that household sample sizes are small integers, which creates challenges in both design and estimation. The new methods are evaluated empirically by using census and health survey data, showing considerable improvement over existing methods in some cases. [source]

Maternal cultural participation and child health status in a Middle Eastern context: evidence from an urban health study

CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2007
M. Khawaja
Abstract Background, The negative effect of poverty on child health has been well established. However, rapid urbanization in developing countries prompts new research questions relating to socio-cultural practices and other related variables in these settings. Objective, To examine the association between maternal cultural participation and child health status in impoverished neighbourhoods of Beirut, Lebanon. Methods, A cross-sectional survey of 1241 mothers with children aged less than 5 years was conducted from randomly selected households in three impoverished neighbourhoods of diverse ethnic and religious make-up. The outcome variable was child health status (good/bad) as assessed by the mother. Maternal variables, including cultural participation, education, demographic and environmental/structural factors, were studied. Descriptive statistics and bivariate associations were provided using Pearson's chi-square tests. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were then obtained from binary logistic regression models. Results, Two indicators of maternal cultural participation, namely watching entertaining television and attending movies/art exhibitions, were found to be significantly associated with child health status after controlling for other risk factors. The quality of water, the quality of local health services and maternal education were also significantly associated with child health status. Household income, child gender and household dampness had no significant association with child health status in this context. Conclusion, Maternal cultural participation was a significant predictor of child health status in impoverished urban communities. Improving child health through culturally focused interventions for mothers, especially in deprived areas, may be greatly important. [source]