Abstract
BackgroundRoutine health information systems (RHIS) are crucial to the acquisition of data for health sector planning. In developing countries, the insufficient quality of the data produced by these systems limits their usefulness in regards to decision-making. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with poor data quality in the RHIS in Benin.MethodsThis cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study included health workers who were responsible for data collection in public and private health centers. The technique and tools used were an interview with a self-administered questionnaire. The dependent variable was the quality of the data. The independent variables were socio-demographic and work-related characteristics, personal and work-related resources, and the perception of the technical factors. The quality of the data was assessed using the Lot Quality Assurance Sampling method. We used survival analysis with univariate proportional hazards (PH) Cox models to derive hazards ratios (HR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Focus group data were evaluated with a content analysis.ResultsA significant link was found between data quality and level of responsibility (p = 0.011), sector of employment (p = 0.007), RHIS training (p = 0.026), level of work engagement (p < 0.001), and the level of perceived self-efficacy (p = 0.03). The focus groups confirmed a positive relationship with organizational factors such as the availability of resources, supervision, and the perceived complexity of the technical factors.ConclusionThis exploratory study identified several factors associated with the quality of the data in the RHIS in Benin. The results could provide strategic decision support in improving the system’s performance.
Highlights
Routine health information systems (RHIS) are crucial to the acquisition of data for health sector planning
Routine Health Information Systems (RHIS) contain information derived at regular intervals from mechanisms designed to meet predictive information needs
To help improve the performance of the RHIS in Benin, the objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with poor data quality, especially those linked to environmental, organizational, technical and behavioral human resources
Summary
Routine health information systems (RHIS) are crucial to the acquisition of data for health sector planning. The insufficient quality of the data produced by these systems limits their usefulness in regards to decision-making. RHIS performance is judged on the production of quality information and its use in decision-making. In the operational in most developing countries, the RHIS in those countries are described as ineffective for several reasons: insufficient comprehensiveness of the information, the poor quality of the data collected, and low levels of use in real-time decision-making. According to the literature, the critical factors in RHIS performance are environmental and organizational (availability of resources), technical (complexity of the collection tools in their format and procedures for use and complexity of the technologies used) and behavioral (staff motivation and competence associated with RHIS tasks) [4]
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