Direct data capture using hand-held computers in rural Burkina Faso: experiences, benefits and lessons learnt.
OBJECTIVE
To assess our experiences of using hand-held computers (personal digital assistants, PDAs) for direct data capture in a large community-based geo-referenced survey in rural Burkina Faso, highlighting benefits and lessons learnt from their use.


METHODS
A population-based geo-referenced survey of over 500 000 people was undertaken using PDAs with in-built GPS receivers and the resulting database analysed in terms of successful completion, error rates and interview durations.


RESULTS
Surveys were successfully completed for 84 861 households (98.3%) by 127 interviewers. The data input error rate was assessed at 0.24%, with more than half of the errors being made by less than 10% of the interviewers. Faster interviewers were not less accurate. Time-stamped and geo-referenced data allowed reconstruction of particular interviewer-day activities.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the survey setting was challenging, the feasibility of using direct data capture on a large scale was well established. We learnt that, with more experience, we could have made better use of real-time entry and quality control checking procedures. The work involved in designing and setting up a complex survey on PDAs prior to data collection should not be underestimated.
Byass
Peter
P
Immpact, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK. p.byass@abdn.ac.uk
Hounton
Sennen
S
Ouédraogo
Moctar
M
Somé
Henri
H
Diallo
Ibrahima
I
Fottrell
Edward
E
Emmelin
Axel
A
Meda
Nicolas
N
D002050:Burkina Faso; D034201:Computers, Handheld; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D012423:Rural Health