Seeking assistance: What lies behind the use of category combinations

Support - Assistance technique
1

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone in the community would provide me a detailed explanation about the topic above

Creating category combinations simplifies how forms are designed, but I do not know the implications of the use or no of the category combinations for data analysis. I am sometimes guided by the form structure and do things randomly. Often, I use the “default” category as well. That is, I would need to create separate data elements for each level of disaggregation. For example, below I have some data elements and two categories Gender and Age.

What is advisable for me to do?

1. Create data element for each level of disaggregation

Data element A) Number of patients testing positive male, 10-14

Data element B) Number of patients testing positive female, 10-14

Data element A) Number of patients testing positive male, 14-19

Data element B) Number of patients testing positive female, 14-19

Data element A) Number of patients testing positive male, 20-24

Data element B) Number of patients testing positive female, 20-24

Data element A) Number of patients testing positive male, >25

Data element B) Number of patients testing positive female, >25

2. Create one data element with (Gender + Age) category combination attached

Thanks

2

hI @hernandezmachava

What you have described seems like a perfect fit for the use of the category model. I agree that this model can be a bit overwhelming; I have attached some guidance on creating them. Another item not described in the attachment is applying sharing settings. Please review the youtube link for more info on sharing settings within the category model and data sets to see how they work together. (it will make more sense if you review the doc first, then the video)

For analysis, this offers quite a bit of flexibility. When you create your category, you will have an option for showing it as data dimension in maintenance. I usually recommend for ages and sex that you include them if you want to review them frequently in combination with your data. This will give you flexibility in analysis apps to add in the disaggregations as dimensions or review the details and see them as you would if you created these as individual data elements. By adding them as dimensions you can pivot them, add them to different chart axes or filter within a map etc. a bit easier as well.

The correct way to create category combos · jason-p-pickering_zambiahmis Wiki.pdf (111.3 KB)

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Hi @Shurajit_Dutta,

Thanks for being so responsive and helping me figure this out.

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