Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-sd5qd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-09T08:37:44.232Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Validation of three geolocation strategies for health-facility attendees for research and public health surveillance in a rural setting in western Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2014

G. H. STRESMAN*
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology & Infection, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
J. C. STEVENSON
Affiliation:
Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
C. OWAGA
Affiliation:
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya
E. MARUBE
Affiliation:
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya
C. ANYANGO
Affiliation:
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Global Health Research, Kisumu, Kenya
C. DRAKELEY
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology & Infection, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
T. BOUSEMA
Affiliation:
Department of Immunology & Infection, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
J. COX
Affiliation:
Department of Disease Control, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
*
* Author for correspondence: Ms. G. H. Stresman, Department of Immunology & Infection, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Understanding the spatial distribution of disease is critical for effective disease control. Where formal address networks do not exist, tracking spatial patterns of clinical disease is difficult. Geolocation strategies were tested at rural health facilities in western Kenya. Methods included geocoding residence by head of compound, participatory mapping and recording the self-reported nearest landmark. Geocoding was able to locate 72·9% [95% confidence interval (CI) 67·7–77·6] of individuals to within 250 m of the true compound location. The participatory mapping exercise was able to correctly locate 82·0% of compounds (95% CI 78·9–84·8) to a 2 × 2·5 km area with a 500 m buffer. The self-reported nearest landmark was able to locate 78·1% (95% CI 73·8–82·1) of compounds to the correct catchment area. These strategies tested provide options for quickly obtaining spatial information on individuals presenting at health facilities.

Information

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
The online version of this article is published within an Open Access environment subject to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014
Figure 0

Fig. 1 [colour online]. Map of the study area, Rachuonyo South, Kenya (2011–2012), showing the main roads (dashed lines), rivers (solid lines), location of schools (flags) and health facilities (crosses).

Figure 1

Fig. 2. Participatory mapping example showing the grid of blocks and cells that were overlain on satellite imagery. The red lines outline the block and block numbers are shown. The cells are outlined by the black lines within each block and are counted from 1 to 20 starting with the upper left corner and counting from left to right (i.e. 13/01 to 13/20).

Figure 2

Fig. 3. Examples of the catchment areas and the spatial distribution of responses for self reported nearest landmark for the Euclidian and cost-distance models, South Rachuonyo, Kenya, 2011–2012. (a) Health-facility catchment based on Euclidian distance model; (b) primary school catchment based on Euclidian distance model; (c) health-facility catchment area based on cost-distance model; (d) school catchment area based on cost-distance model.

Figure 3

Table 1. Results of participatory mapping exercise, Rachuonyo South, Kenya, 2011–2012

Figure 4

Table 2. Results of self-reported nearest landmarks as a geolocation strategy, Rachuonyo South, Kenya, 2011–2012

Figure 5

Fig. 4. Scatter plot showing the summarized results of all geolocation strategies tested with the precision (mean area) of the approach plotted against the accuracy (% of compounds correctly located): 1, cell [participatory mapping (PM)]; 2, cell (>500 m) (PM); 3, combined health facility (HF) & primary school (PS) (Euclidian distance; ED) [nearest landmark (NL)]; 4, geocoding; 5, block (PM); 6, cell (>1000 m) (PM); 7, block (>500 m) (PM); 8, combined HF & PS (cost-distance; CD) (NL); 9, PS (ED) (NL); 10, block (>1000 m) (PM); 11, PS (CD) (NL); 12, HF (ED) (NL); 13, HF (CD) (NL).