The Malaria Quarterly Report (QR) is the primary data resource in M-DIVE for understanding malaria incidence, burden, and progress metrics in PMI-supported countries. It includes data provided by countries each quarter, based on what they have available from their existing data collection systems. This document describes how the different indicators used in each data submission are aligned to match the consistent set of indicators that appear in the Malaria QR.
Indicator Standardization
Each quarter, PMI requests and collects a standardized list of indicators that are used to measure key metrics on malaria incidence and prevalence, medical supply and facility logistics, population, and malaria campaigns. The full list of these indicators as they are described for use in M-DIVE is available in the Malaria Quarterly Report Data Dictionary.
Since these M-DIVE standard definitions might not match the exact indicators defined within each country’s existing data systems, the indicators that partner country teams submit each round may appear in one of the following ways:
- Submitted as an exact match of the standard indicator.
- Submitted under a different name or alias to the standard indicator, but otherwise matching the standard definition.
- Submitted as separate, disaggregated indicators that can be combined to calculate the standard indicator.
- Submitted as a nonstandard indicator that does not have an obvious match amongst the set of defined standard indicators.
The submitted indicators can vary for each country, time period, and indicator. As such, the QR data process in M-DIVE includes a number of set indicator “mappings” that describe how the submitted data relates to the standard indicators made available in the final M-DIVE data set.
These mappings define in a formulaic, repeatable way how the indicators in the submitted data need to be adjusted, renamed, or otherwise transformed in order to create a unified output. This ensures that the Quarterly Report data in M-DIVE has one consistent set of indicator definitions that can be used across countries, time periods, and applications.
Below are four of the common approaches to mapping a submitted indicator to a standard indicator:
- Identity
- The submitted indicator is an exact match of a standard indicator, no mapping is required.
- For example, the submitted indicator, “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1,” matches the standard indicator “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1.”
- Rename
- The submitted indicator is under a different name or alias and is mapped to one standard indicator.
- For example, the submitted indicator, “IPTP First Treatment,” is renamed to the standard indicator, “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1.”
- Linear combination
- Separate, disaggregated indicators are submitted and combined in a single mapping to a standard indicator. Linear combinations create weighted sums, multiplying each available indicator by its specified multiplier (most commonly 1).
- For example, the two submitted indicators, “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1, less than 30 years old” and “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1, 30+ years old” are each given a weight of 1 and added together to create the standard indicator, “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1.”
- Linear combination (all required)
- Similar to linear combinations, but requires that all indicators included in the mapping are present in order to apply the mapping. Should only be used in special cases.
Below is a diagram of these common approaches to mapping a submitted indicator to a standard indicator:
Challenges and Approaches
Aligning submitted indicators with standard indicators comes with a set of challenges for which we have designed approaches, outlined in the table below.
Challenges |
Example |
Approaches |
The submitted indicators for a standard indicator of interest may differ not just across countries, but also across separate submissions or data systems for the same country. |
A country may have submitted “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1” for a period of time but later split that into “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1, less than 30 years old” and “Number of pregnant women who received IPTp1, 30+ years old”. |
Mappings can be defined as applicable to only certain countries and/or time periods. |
One or more indicators provided by country teams might map to the same M-DIVE standard indicator. |
A country submits both “Number of Severe Malaria Cases” and “Severe Malaria,” both of which match the standard indicator “Severe Cases”. |
Following guidance from country teams, the M-DIVE team can assign priority to mappings to indicate which value should be taken if multiple raw indicators are provided for a standard indicator. Raw indicators can also be combined via linear combination mappings if they represent components of a standard indicator. |
There may be multiple ways to derive an M-DIVE standard indicator from the submitted indicators provided. |
For the standard indicator “Severe Cases,” a country has submitted a variety of indicators. For two rounds, the country submitted “Number of Severe Malaria Cases,” then submitted “Severe Malaria” for another two rounds. This round, they submitted both. |
When there are multiple conflicting ways to derive a standard indicator for the same time and place, the in-country team is consulted to identify their preferred approach on which derivation to use. |
An indicator is submitted which does not appear to map to any standard indicator. |
A country submits “Number of facilities that reported on Primaquine.” There are not currently any standard indicators related to Primaquine. |
If submitted indicators do not map to any standard indicator, these submitted indicators are skipped. If there is any uncertainty as to whether a submitted indicator should remain unmapped, the in-country team is consulted prior to adding the indicator to the set of skipped indicators. |
If you have any questions, please submit them to Megan Klinger (wvr1@cdc.gov) and Bryan Baird (bbaird@usaid.gov) on the PMI Surveillance & Informatics team, or to support@civisanalytics.com. If you would like to learn more about additional topics on M-DIVE, please click the links below for further reading.
Important Resources
- Malaria Quarterly Report Data Pipeline Overview: How Quarterly Report Data Are Processed in M-DIVE
- Malaria Quarterly Report Quality Control Processes Overview in M-DIVE
- Malaria Quarterly Report Time Standardization
- Malaria Quarterly Report Format Standardization
- Malaria Quarterly Report Geographic Standardization
- Malaria Quarterly Report (M-DIVE access required)
- M-DIVE Help Center (M-DIVE access required)
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