Farhajuddin Shaikh, Shahzad Ali Khan, Ramesh Kumar, Imdad A Khushk, Saima Hamid, Assad Hafeez.
Assessment of completeness and timeliness of district health information system at first level care facilities in a rural district of Sindh, Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;5(3):36-9.

Background/Objective: A well-designed district health information system (DHIS) is an important tool for the management of primary health care services at gross root level. Complete, timely and correct information is needed to every health manager for making better decisions based on evidence. Rapid assessment is required for improving the quality of data that helps in planning, strengthening and restructuring of the system. In Pakistan, facility based DHIS was developed in the year 2008. This system has been implemented in phased manner and since June 2010, over 90% primary health care facilities are working under reporting system of DHIS. This study was conducted to assess completeness and timeliness of DHIS at rst level care facilities (FLCF) of a rural district in Sindh, Pakistan. Methods: A mix method study was conducted to assess the 10 FCLFs randomly selected out of 47 located in district Ghotki. Project was completed from April to July, 2013. All health workers were interviewed through a pre designed checklist. However, in-charges of the facilities were interviewed through qualitative approach, after taking the informed consent. Data has been analyzed through both; qualitative and quantitative methods. Results: A total of 10 FCLFs were assessed to meet the objectives of study. Data completeness and timelessness were assessed through this survey. Lack of supervision, lack of coordination, political interference, timely feedback and shortage of human resource were identied as major themes after qualitative data analysis. The participants of the study were mostly medical ofcers and other staff responsible for DHIS activities at the facility. Findings of this study show poor situation of DHIS in terms of data quality with reporting regularity of less than 65%. Conclusion: This study concludes that factors like lack of coordination, human resources, supervision, feedback and political interference are main causes for incompleteness and timeless ow of DHIS at FCLF of rural Sindh. Key Words: Health Management Information System, First care level facility, District, Data, Human Resource, Health System.

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