Lanata C F, Black R E
Research Division, Institute of Nutrition Research, Lima, Peru.
World Health Stat Q. 1991;44(3):133-9.
Traditional survey methods, which are generally costly and time-consuming, usually provide information at the regional or national level only. The utilization of lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) methodology, developed in industry for quality control, makes it possible to use small sample sizes when conducting surveys in small geographical or population-based areas (lots). This article describes the practical use of LQAS for conducting health surveys to monitor health programmes in developing countries. Following a brief description of the method, the article explains how to build a sample frame and conduct the sampling to apply LQAS under field conditions. A detailed description of the procedure for selecting a sampling unit to monitor the health programme and a sample size is given. The sampling schemes utilizing LQAS applicable to health surveys, such as simple- and double-sampling schemes, are discussed. The interpretation of the survey results and the planning of subsequent rounds of LQAS surveys are also discussed. When describing the applicability of LQAS in health surveys in developing countries, the article considers current limitations for its use by health planners in charge of health programmes, and suggests ways to overcome these limitations through future research. It is hoped that with increasing attention being given to industrial sampling plans in general, and LQAS in particular, their utilization to monitor health programmes will provide health planners in developing countries with powerful techniques to help them achieve their health programme targets.
传统的调查方法通常成本高昂且耗时，一般仅能提供区域或国家层面的信息。在工业领域为质量控制而开发的批量质量保证抽样（LQAS）方法的应用，使得在小地理区域或小群体（批量）开展调查时能够使用小样本量。本文描述了LQAS在发展中国家进行健康调查以监测健康项目中的实际应用。在简要介绍该方法之后，文章解释了如何构建抽样框架以及在实地条件下应用LQAS进行抽样。给出了选择监测健康项目的抽样单位和样本量的详细程序说明。讨论了适用于健康调查的利用LQAS的抽样方案，如简单抽样和双重抽样方案。还讨论了调查结果的解读以及后续LQAS调查轮次的规划。在描述LQAS在发展中国家健康调查中的适用性时，文章考虑了负责健康项目的卫生规划者目前使用该方法的局限性，并提出了通过未来研究克服这些局限性的方法。希望随着对一般工业抽样计划，特别是LQAS的关注度不断提高，其在监测健康项目中的应用将为发展中国家的卫生规划者提供强大的技术手段，帮助他们实现健康项目目标。
