Abstract

The South African Population Research Infrastructure Network (SAPRIN) is a national research infrastructure funded through the Department of Science and Technology and hosted by the South African Medical Research Council. One of SAPRIN’s initial goals has been to harmonise the legacy longitudinal data from the three current Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) Nodes. These long-standing nodes are the MRC/Wits University Agincourt HDSS in Bushbuckridge District, Mpumalanga, established in 1993, with a population of 116 000 people; the University of Limpopo DIMAMO HDSS in the Capricorn District of Limpopo, established in 1996, with a current population of 100 000; and the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) HDSS in uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal, established in 2000, with a current population of 125 000.

SAPRIN data are processed for longitudinal analysis by organising the demographic data into residence episodes at a geographical location, and membership episodes within a household. Start events include enumeration, birth, in-migration and relocating into a household from within the study population; exit events include death (by cause), out-migration, and relocating to another location in the study population. Variables routinely updated at individual level include health care utilisation, marital status, labour status, education status, as well as recording household asset status. Anticipated outcomes of SAPRIN include: (i) regular releases of up-to-date, longitudinal data, representative of South Africa’s fast-changing poorer communities for research, interpretation and calibration of national datasets; (ii) national statistics triangulation, whereby longitudinal SAPRIN data are triangulated with National Census data for calibration of national statistics and studying the mechanisms driving the national statistics; (iii) An interdisciplinary research platform for conducting observational and interventional research at population level; (iv) policy engagement to provide evidence to underpin policy-making for cost evaluation and targeting intervention programmes, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency of pro-poor, health and wellbeing interventions; (v) scientific education through training at related universities; and (vi) community engagement, whereby coordinated engagement with communities will enable two-way learning between researchers and community members, and enabling research site communities and service providers to have access to and make effective use of research results.

Geographic coverage

The Agincourt HDSS covers an area of approximately 420km2 and is located in Bushbuckridge District, Mpumalanga in the rural north-east of South Africa close to the Mozambique border. DIMAMO is located in the Capricorn district, Limpopo Province approximately 40 km from Polokwane, the capital city of Limpopo Province and 15-50 km from the University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus). The site covers an area of approximately 200 km2. AHRI is situated in the south-east portion of the Umkhanyakude district of KwaZulu-Natal province near the town of Mtubatuba. It is bounded on the west by the Umfolozi-Hluhluwe nature reserve, on the south by the Umfolozi river, on the east by the N2 highway (except form portions where the KwaMsane township strandles the highway) and in the north by the Inyalazi river for portions of the boundary. The area is 438km2.

Analysis unit

Exposure episodes

Universe

Households resident in dwellings within the study area will be eligible for inclusion in the household component of SAPRIN. All individuals identified by the household proxy informant as a member of the household will be enumerated. A resident household member is an individual that intends to sleep the majority of time at the dwelling occupied by the household over a four-month period. Households will include resident and non-resident members. An individual is a non-resident member if they have close ties to the household, but do not physically reside with the household most of the time. They can also be called temporary migrants and they are enumerated within the household list. Because household membership is not tied to physical residency, an individual may be a member of more than one household.

Kind of data

Event/transaction data

Sampling procedure

This dataset is not based on a sample but contains information from the complete demographic surveillance areas.

The ‘South African Population Research Infrastructure Network’ (SAPRIN) is a national research infrastructure funded through the Department of Science and Innovation and hosted by the South African Medical Research Council. One of SAPRIN’s initial goals has been to harmonise and share the longitudinal data from the three current Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) Nodes. These long-standing nodes are the MRC/Wits University Agincourt HDSS in Bushbuckridge District, Mpumalanga, established in 1993, with a population of 113 113 people; the University of Limpopo DIMAMO HDSS in the Capricorn District of Limpopo, established in 1996, with a current population of 38 479; and the Africa Health ResearchInstitute (AHRI) HDSS in uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal, established in 2000, with a current population of 139 250. The data on this Repository is not the result of a single questionnaire but is a result of harmonised data from three different sites longitudinally collected over more than twenty years using different questionnaires that varied over time and site.

The ‘South African Population Research Infrastructure Network’ (SAPRIN) is a national research infrastructure funded through the Department of Science and Innovation and hosted by the South African Medical Research Council. One of SAPRIN’s initial goals has been to harmonise and share the longitudinal data from the three current Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) Nodes. These long-standing nodes are the MRC/Wits University Agincourt HDSS in Bushbuckridge District, Mpumalanga, established in 1993, with a population of 113 113 people; the University of Limpopo DIMAMO HDSS in the Capricorn District of Limpopo, established in 1996, with a current population of 38 479; and the Africa Health ResearchInstitute (AHRI) HDSS in uMkhanyakude District, KwaZulu-Natal, established in 2000, with a current population of 139 250. The data on this Repository is not the result of a single questionnaire but is a result of harmonised data from three different sites longitudinally collected over more than twenty years using different questionnaires that varied over time and site.