Accuracy of primary health care statistics reported by community based lady health workers in district Lahore.

OBJECTIVE To determine the accuracy of monthly reports submitted by lady health workers of National program for family planning and primary health care in district Lahore. METHODS A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in district Lahore from November 2008 to February 2009. Forty lady health workers were selected using stratified random technique. Four monthly reports (one from each quarter of year 2008) submitted in health facilities by each lady health worker were retrieved from respective health facilities. These reports were then audited for accuracy using registers in health houses and verification of primary health care information in their respective communities. A scoring system was devised to grade reports for accuracy as good (80% and above score), satisfactory (60-70% score) and unsatisfactory (less than 60% score). RESULTS Out of 40 lady health workers (LHWs) interviewed, 32 (80%) had good knowledge, 6 (15%) had satisfactory knowledge, while 2 (5%) had unsatisfactory knowledge regarding data recording and reporting tools. Based on our scoring system, only 47.5% of reports were found accurate. In addition, 35% of reports contained missed entries, misreported data and factitious information. CONCLUSION There are significant gaps in recording and reporting of primary health care data in National programme for family planning and primary health care in district Lahore. Considering the utility of this data for health planning at district, provincial and national levels, adequate supervision and regular auditing should be carried out at health facility and district levels before onward transmission primary health care data to provincial and national levels.