Profile: The Dodowa HDSS

Abstract

The Dodowa Health and Demographic Surveillance System (DHDSS) operates in the south-eastern part of Ghana. It was established in 2005 after an initial attempt in 2003 by the Dodowa Health Research Centre (DHRC) to have an accurate population base for piloting a community health insurance scheme. As at 2010, the DHDSS had registered 111 976 residents in 22 767 households. The district is fairly rural, with scattered settlements. Information on pregnancies, births, deaths, migration and marriages using household registration books administered by trained fieldworkers is obtained biannually. Education, immunization status and household socioeconomic measures are obtained annually and verbal autopsies (VA) are conducted on all deaths. Community key informants (CKI) complement the work of field staff by notifying the field office of events that occur after a fieldworker has left a community. The centre has very close working relationships with the district health directorate and the local government authority. The DHDSS subscribes to the INDEPTH data-sharing policy and in addition, contractual arrangements are made with various institutions on specific data-sharing issues.

Determinants of attending antenatal care at least four times in rural Ghana: analysis of a cross-sectional survey

“…For the Dodowa HDSS site, a surveillance population of approximately 115,000 was recorded in 2011. It is approximately 40 km from Accra [33] and contains 20 CHPS compounds.…”

Towards malaria control and elimination in Ghana: challenges and decision making tools to guide planning

“…[12–16] However, in both forest and coastal ecological areas, malaria parasite prevalence peaks twice in a year. [12,13,17]…”

Impact of odour-baited mosquito traps for malaria control : design and evaluation of a trial using solar-powered mosquito trapping systems in western Kenya

“…Likewise, transferring data from paper into a digital form is a lengthy process with a lot of room for error. Not only the content of data can be entered incorrectly, but assigning new data to the right entity or ID is an errorprone process with small typos leading to unrecognizable and ultimately squandered data (Gyapong et al, 2013;Kahn et al, 2012;Kouanda et al, 2013;Scott et al, 2012). Finally, accumulating and managing data relies heavily on obsolete database software with limited data quality assurance structures.…”

“…This integration is one of the important improved aspects within the described HDSS, resulting in organizational and scientific advantages. HDSS sites often rely on paper-based conducting of questionnaires before the data is entered in to a digital database (Derra et al, 2012;Gyapong et al, 2013;Kahn et al, 2012;Pison et al, 2014;Scott et al, 2012). The Android operating system is used on powerful tablet computers, allowing us to develop or deploy the desired software.…”

“…At most INDEPTH affiliated HDSS sites the Household Registration System [HRS] is used for managing demographic and health-related data, either by digitalizing filled in paper forms or direct digital entry in the field (Derra et al, 2012;Gyapong et al, 2013;Kouanda et al, 2013;Odhiambo et al, 2012;Wanyua et al, 2013). There are also examples of HDSS sites where a different data management system is developed relying on paper or non-paper based data collection (Kahn et al, 2012;Sacoor et al, 2013;Scott et al, 2012).…”