Background: There is an international emphasis on providing
timely and high quality data to monitor progress of countries
toward Millennium Development Goals. Iran’s Multiple Indicator
Demographic and Health Survey (IrMIDHS) aimed to provide
valid information on population and health outcomes to monitor
progress in achieving national priorities and health programs and
to assist policy makers to design effective strategies for improving
health outcomes and equity in access to care.
Methods: Across-sectional multi-stage stratified cluster-random survey is
conducted through face-to-face household interviews. The sampling frame
is developed using Iran’s 2006 population and housing census. Provincial
samples ranging are from a minimum of 400 households per province
to 6400 households in Tehran province. Cluster size is 10 households.
The target sample includes 3096 clusters: 2187 clusters in urban and 909
clusters in rural areas. IrMIDHS instruments include three questionnaires:
Household questionnaire, women aged 15-54 questionnaire, children
under five questionnaire, supervision and quality assessment checklists
and data collection sheets and standard weight and height measurement
tools for under-five children. A cascading decentralized training method is
used for training data collection and supervision teams. Quality assurance
procedures are defined for the five steps of conducting the survey
including: Sampling, training data collection and training teams, survey
implementation, data entry and analysis. A multi-layer supervision and
monitoring procedure is established. All the questionnaires are double
entered.
Conclusions: IrMIDHS will provide valuable data for policymakers
in Iran. Designing and implementation of the study involve
contributions from academics as well as program managers and
policy makers. The collaborative nature of the study may facilitate
better usage of its results.