PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Y Xiao
AU  - A F Bochner
AU  - B Makunike
AU  - M Holec
AU  - S Xaba
AU  - M Tshimanga
AU  - V Chitimbire
AU  - S Barnhart
AU  - C Feldacker
TI  - Challenges in data quality: the influence of data quality assessments on data availability and completeness in a voluntary medical male circumcision programme in Zimbabwe
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013562
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e013562
VI  - 7
IP  - 1
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/1/e013562.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/1/e013562.full
SO  - BMJ Open2017 Jan 01; 7
AB  - Objectives To assess availability and completeness of data collected before and after a data quality audit (DQA) in voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) sites in Zimbabwe to determine the effect of this process on data quality.Setting 4 of 10 VMMC sites in Zimbabwe that received a DQA in February, 2015 selected by convenience sampling.Participants Retrospective reviews of all client intake forms (CIFs) from November, 2014 and May, 2015. A total of 1400 CIFs were included from those 2 months across four sites.Primary and secondary outcomes Data availability was measured as the percentage of VMMC clients whose CIF was on file at each site. A data evaluation tool measured the completeness of 34 key CIF variables. A comparison of pre-DQA and post-DQA results was conducted using χ2 and t-tests.Results After the DQA, high record availability of over 98% was maintained by sites 3 and 4. For sites 1 and 2, record availability increased by 8.0% (p=0.001) and 9.7% (p=0.02), respectively. After the DQA, sites 1, 2 and 3 improved significantly in data completeness across 34 key indicators, increasing by 8.6% (p<0.001), 2.7% (p=0.003) and 3.8% (p<0.001), respectively. For site 4, CIF data completeness decreased by 1.7% (p<0.01) after the DQA.Conclusions Our findings suggest that CIF data availability and completeness generally improved after the DQA. However, gaps in documentation of vital signs and adverse events signal areas for improvement. Additional emphasis on data completeness would help support high-quality programme implementation and availability of reliable data for decision-making.