sampling strategies to measure the prevalence of common recurrent infections in longitudinal studies抽样策略来衡量在纵向研究常见的复发性感染的患病率.pdfVIP

Schmidt et al. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2010, 7:5 EMERGING THEMES /content/7/1/5 IN EPIDEMIOLOGY METHODOLOGY Open Access Sampling strategies to measure the prevalence of common recurrent infections in longitudinal studies 1* 2 2 1 3 1 Wolf-Peter Schmidt , Bernd Genser , Mauricio L Barreto , Thomas Clasen , Stephen P Luby , Sandy Cairncross , Zaid Chalabi4 Abstract Background: Measuring recurrent infections such as diarrhoea or respiratory infections in epidemiological studies is a methodological challenge. Problems in measuring the incidence of recurrent infections include the episode definition, recall error, and the logistics of close follow up. Longitudinal prevalence (LP), the proportion-of-time-ill estimated by repeated prevalence measurements, is an alternative measure to incidence of recurrent infections. In contrast to incidence which usually requires continuous sampling, LP can be measured at intervals. This study explored how many more participants are needed for infrequent sampling to achieve the same study power as frequent sampling. Methods: We developed a set of four empirical simulation models representing low and high risk settings with short or long episode durations. The model was used to evaluate different sampling strategies with different assumptions on recall period and recall error. Results: The model identified three major factors that influence sampling strategies: (1) the clustering of episodes in individuals; (2) the duration of episodes; (3) the positive correlation between an individual’s disease incidence