Advice on Population denominators

Support - Assistance technique
1

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies & children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc…) that can be pulled into indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

2

Thanks Wilson for sharing. I hope kenya approarch can assist to address your need. In addressing population as denominator you require to consider the aggregation level either you want health facilities to input their catchment population and aggreated upwards to get national aggregate. Note:- this approach require careful determination of individual catchment population. In Kenya health facilities can input catchment population based on previous year coverage of service(contribution to the lowest catchment area per census figures) the contibution is applied to near year population. NB. The data on pupulation is not aggredated upwards except District population which can aggregate upwaards to minimums errors or rounding ups.

Also in kenya we have CHIS which use actual population because CHEWS visit every household and he/she has actual records so there is no need of using projection/estimate but the population parameters is same.

···

Population estimates

Value

Population total
Population female
Population male
Households
Population under 1 year
Population under 5 years
Population under 15 years
Population 15-24 years
Women of childbearing age (15–49yrs)
Estimated number of deliveries
Estimated live births
Population 25-59 years
Population over 60 years
Estimated number of emergency obstetric complications
Estimated of post abortion cases

Population parameters

Value

Area in Kilometer square
Population Growth Rate
Household size

Vitamin A Population Category

Value

6-11 Months(50%of <1yrs)
12-59 Month (80% of < 5yrs)
6-59 Months (90% of < 5yrs

Regards

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 9:56 PM, Wilson,Randy rwilson@msh.org wrote:

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies & children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc…) that can be pulled into indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

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–
Samuel Cheburet
Ministry Of Health
P.O. Box 20781
Nairobi, Kenya
Mobile- 0721624338

Don’t Compromise The Quality! Don’t Risk It! apply Available Standards to Achieve Your/organizational Goal.

3

Hi Randy,

We have a similar situation in Zambia. We pre-projected the population
figures for 2000-2010 (from the 2000 census) using growth figures, and
then inserted these as normal data elements in the DHIS 2 database.
AFAIK, DHIS 2 has no ability to "project" data in the manner which you
describe. We used external statistical programs, followed by data
transformation and import to accomplish this task.

I have filed a blueprint on this topic...

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/data-projection

In regards to the use of percentages for different populations, this
should be possible through the use of indicators. If you have a base
population and a factor for pregnant women, you would need to enter
both the population and factor as data elements. The combination of
the two could then be used as a denominator for instance in ANC
calculations.

I think the best way would be to pre-project the population figures
for each year and the factors (pregnant women, WPA, etc) and import
these for each organisational unit by year into DHIS 2. Then, you can
use this as the basis for calculations for indicators. This is the
procedure we use in Zambia, and it works fine.

Regards,
Jason

···

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 8:56 PM, Wilson,Randy <rwilson@msh.org> wrote:

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for
Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation
about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage
indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example
at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters
such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of
the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies &
children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc..) that can be pulled into
indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data
elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator
definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should
be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

_______________________________________________
Mailing list: DHIS 2 Users in Launchpad
Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
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More help : ListHelp - Launchpad Help

--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260974901293

4

Hi Randy,

We have a similar situation in Zambia. We pre-projected the population

figures for 2000-2010 (from the 2000 census) using growth figures, and

then inserted these as normal data elements in the DHIS 2 database.

AFAIK, DHIS 2 has no ability to “project” data in the manner which you

describe. We used external statistical programs, followed by data

transformation and import to accomplish this task.

I have filed a blueprint on this topic…

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/data-projection

In regards to the use of percentages for different populations, this

should be possible through the use of indicators. If you have a base

population and a factor for pregnant women, you would need to enter

both the population and factor as data elements. The combination of

the two could then be used as a denominator for instance in ANC

calculations.

Hi Randy,

I would just enter the factor as a static number into the formula itself. No need to create a data element and enter values for it.
E.g. “Total Population” * 0.041 in the denominatior expression for Population <1 y will give the desired 4.1% of total population.

Also note that when using a data element (and data values) to put the factor it will be aggregated like any other data element, which you don’t want.

I think the best way would be to pre-project the population figures

for each year and the factors (pregnant women, WPA, etc) and import

these for each organisational unit by year into DHIS 2. Then, you can

use this as the basis for calculations for indicators. This is the

procedure we use in Zambia, and it works fine.

Agree with this. Projection inside DHIS is not supported and for now you will have to enter values for each year.

Ola

···

On 11 May 2011 21:18, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

Regards,

Jason

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 8:56 PM, Wilson,Randy rwilson@msh.org wrote:

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for

Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation

about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage

indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example

at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters

such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of

the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies &

children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc…) that can be pulled into

indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data

elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator

definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should

be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

Jason P. Pickering

email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com

tel:+260974901293

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

5

I would just enter the factor as a static number into the formula itself. No
need to create a data element and enter values for it.
E.g. "Total Population" * 0.041 in the denominatior expression for
Population <1 y will give the desired 4.1% of total population.

This would also work, if the factor does not every change, and if
there is no difference between orgunits or periods.

In the Zambia case, the population factors can vary from district to
district, depending on the demographics, so the use of a constant
factor in the formula was not possible.

···

--
Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260974901293

6

The use case of populating population data is one where I support using SQL directly, and I don’t think we will implement a function for this is in the system. The below query is the one I used in Kenya to move population data from one year to another, might be useful with some modification (postgresql).

Lars

– Moves population data from last year to this year

– Replace first periodid (43668) with current year, replace second periodid (21011) with last year, growth rate with desired rate (1.029), replace dataset.name (‘Population estimates’) with population dataset name

delete from datavalue where periodid=43668 and dataelementid in (

select dataelementid from datasetmembers

join dataset using(datasetid)

where dataset.name=‘Population estimates’ );

insert into datavalue(dataelementid,periodid,sourceid,categoryoptioncomboid,value,storedby,lastupdated,comment,followup)

select dataelementid,43668 as periodid,sourceid,categoryoptioncomboid,ceil(cast(value as double precision)*1.029) as value,storedby,lastupdated,comment,followup

from datavalue

where periodid=21011 and dataelementid in (

select dataelementid from datasetmembers

join dataset using(datasetid)

where dataset.name=‘Population estimates’ );

7

Thanks Samuel,

This is very helpful.

I’ve created data elements in a similar way for each of the population estimates. Do you enter a single record at the national level, or do you need to create values for each orgunit in the hierarchy, from health facility up to national level? It would be ideal if we could use one single record in the database or perhaps one per year rather than having to create hundreds of records with the same values.

Randy

···

From: samuel cheburet [mailto:samuelcheburet@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 9:12 PM
To: Wilson,Randy
Cc: dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-users] Advice on Population denominators

Thanks Wilson for sharing. I hope kenya approarch can assist to address your need. In addressing population as denominator you require to consider the aggregation level either you want health facilities to input their catchment population and aggreated upwards to get national aggregate. Note:- this approach require careful determination of individual catchment population. In Kenya health facilities can input catchment population based on previous year coverage of service(contribution to the lowest catchment area per census figures) the contibution is applied to near year population. NB. The data on pupulation is not aggredated upwards except District population which can aggregate upwaards to minimums errors or rounding ups.

Also in kenya we have CHIS which use actual population because CHEWS visit every household and he/she has actual records so there is no need of using projection/estimate but the population parameters is same.

Organisation Unit

[ Select from tree on the left side ]

Data Set

[[ Select data set ] /]

Period

[[ Select period ] /] [Prev][Next]

Population estimates

Value

Population total

Population female

Population male

Households

Population under 1 year

Population under 5 years

Population under 15 years

Population 15-24 years

Women of childbearing age (15–49yrs)

Estimated number of deliveries

Estimated live births

Population 25-59 years

Population over 60 years

Estimated number of emergency obstetric complications

Estimated of post abortion cases

Population parameters

Value

Area in Kilometer square

Population Growth Rate

Household size

Vitamin A Population Category

Value

6-11 Months(50%of <1yrs)

12-59 Month (80% of < 5yrs)

6-59 Months (90% of < 5yrs

Regards

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 9:56 PM, Wilson,Randy rwilson@msh.org wrote:

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies & children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc…) that can be pulled into indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Samuel Cheburet
Ministry Of Health
P.O. Box 20781
Nairobi, Kenya
Mobile- 0721624338

Don’t Compromise The Quality! Don’t Risk It! apply Available Standards to Achieve Your/organizational Goal.

8

Are you talking about the population figures themselves or the parameters here?

Ola

···

On 12 May 2011 11:06, Wilson,Randy rwilson@msh.org wrote:

Thanks Samuel,

This is very helpful.

I’ve created data elements in a similar way for each of the population estimates. Do you enter a single record at the national level, or do you need to create values for each orgunit in the hierarchy, from health facility up to national level? It would be ideal if we could use one single record in the database or perhaps one per year rather than having to create hundreds of records with the same values.

Randy

From: samuel cheburet [mailto:samuelcheburet@gmail.com]

Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 9:12 PM
To: Wilson,Randy
Cc: dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-users] Advice on Population denominators

Thanks Wilson for sharing. I hope kenya approarch can assist to address your need. In addressing population as denominator you require to consider the aggregation level either you want health facilities to input their catchment population and aggreated upwards to get national aggregate. Note:- this approach require careful determination of individual catchment population. In Kenya health facilities can input catchment population based on previous year coverage of service(contribution to the lowest catchment area per census figures) the contibution is applied to near year population. NB. The data on pupulation is not aggredated upwards except District population which can aggregate upwaards to minimums errors or rounding ups.

Also in kenya we have CHIS which use actual population because CHEWS visit every household and he/she has actual records so there is no need of using projection/estimate but the population parameters is same.

Organisation Unit

[ Select from tree on the left side ]

Data Set

[[ Select data set ] /]

Period

[[ Select period ] /] [Prev][Next]

Population estimates

Value

Population total

Population female

Population male

Households

Population under 1 year

Population under 5 years

Population under 15 years

Population 15-24 years

Women of childbearing age (15–49yrs)

Estimated number of deliveries

Estimated live births

Population 25-59 years

Population over 60 years

Estimated number of emergency obstetric complications

Estimated of post abortion cases

Population parameters

Value

Area in Kilometer square

Population Growth Rate

Household size

Vitamin A Population Category

Value

6-11 Months(50%of <1yrs)

12-59 Month (80% of < 5yrs)

6-59 Months (90% of < 5yrs

Regards

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 9:56 PM, Wilson,Randy rwilson@msh.org wrote:

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies & children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc…) that can be pulled into indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–
Samuel Cheburet
Ministry Of Health
P.O. Box 20781
Nairobi, Kenya
Mobile- 0721624338

Don’t Compromise The Quality! Don’t Risk It! apply Available Standards to Achieve Your/organizational Goal.

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net

Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users

More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

9

It would be useful if we could have a “hidden” hierarchy for census-type data (population, area, income) so that we could build catchment areas from smaller census units without them appearing in selection trees and tables unless specifically requested.

···

From: dhis2-users-bounces+rdf4=cdc.gov@lists.launchpad.net [mailto:dhis2-users-bounces+rdf4=cdc.gov@lists.launchpad.net] On Behalf Of Ola Hodne Titlestad
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 3:16 AM
To: Jason Pickering
Cc: dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Subject: Re: [Dhis2-users] Advice on Population denominators

On 11 May 2011 21:18, Jason Pickering jason.p.pickering@gmail.com wrote:

Hi Randy,

We have a similar situation in Zambia. We pre-projected the population
figures for 2000-2010 (from the 2000 census) using growth figures, and
then inserted these as normal data elements in the DHIS 2 database.
AFAIK, DHIS 2 has no ability to “project” data in the manner which you
describe. We used external statistical programs, followed by data
transformation and import to accomplish this task.

I have filed a blueprint on this topic…

https://blueprints.launchpad.net/dhis2/+spec/data-projection

In regards to the use of percentages for different populations, this
should be possible through the use of indicators. If you have a base
population and a factor for pregnant women, you would need to enter
both the population and factor as data elements. The combination of
the two could then be used as a denominator for instance in ANC
calculations.

Hi Randy,

I would just enter the factor as a static number into the formula itself. No need to create a data element and enter values for it.
E.g. “Total Population” * 0.041 in the denominatior expression for Population <1 y will give the desired 4.1% of total population.

Also note that when using a data element (and data values) to put the factor it will be aggregated like any other data element, which you don’t want.

I think the best way would be to pre-project the population figures
for each year and the factors (pregnant women, WPA, etc) and import
these for each organisational unit by year into DHIS 2. Then, you can
use this as the basis for calculations for indicators. This is the
procedure we use in Zambia, and it works fine.

Agree with this. Projection inside DHIS is not supported and for now you will have to enter values for each year.

Ola

Regards,
Jason

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 8:56 PM, Wilson,Randy rwilson@msh.org wrote:

We’ve been setting up DHIS-2 as a health data warehouse and dashboard for
Rwanda. So far it has gone well, but I have found no useful documentation
about how to manage admin unit target populations … crucial for any coverage
indicator calculations.

Ideally we’d like to store the populations once per org unit – for example
at the year of the national census – and then have a table of parameters
such as population growth rate, and breakdowns of % population in each of
the major programmatic target groups (e.g. 4.1% expected pregnancies &
children <1, 23.6% women of reproductive age, etc…) that can be pulled into
indicator calculations. I’ve tried to create these parameters as data
elements, but I can’t seem to use them successfully in the indicator
definition screens, nor do I have any idea where the population data should
be stored.

Has anyone done this before?

Randy Wilson

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

–

Jason P. Pickering
email: jason.p.pickering@gmail.com
tel:+260974901293

Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
Post to : dhis2-users@lists.launchpad.net
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~dhis2-users
More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp