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Q J Med 2002; 95: 445-450
© 2002 Association of Physicians

A community study of health promotion in rural West Africa: details of a household survey and population census

J. Plange-Rhule1,2,3, F.P. Cappuccio1,, L. Emmett1,2, S.M. Kerry1, A.R. Edmundson4, D. Acheampong5 and J.B. Eastwood2

From the Departments of 1 General Practice & Primary Care and 2 Renal Medicine, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK, 3 Department of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana, 4 Land Administration Research Centre, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, and 5 Ejisu-Juabeng District Health Directorate, Ministry of Health, Ghana

Received 21 January 2002 and in revised form 11 March 2002

Background: Hypertension is an important problem in sub-Saharan Africa. The low use of processed food in this area makes a population approach to reducing salt intake feasible.

Aim: To create an age-sex register for 12 villages in Ghana as the first stage of a community study of the effect of dietary salt reduction on blood pressure and urinary sodium excretion in West African villagers.

Design: Household survey and population census.

Methods: Over three months, village maps were sketched and a complete list of total number of households, adults (with age and gender) and children in each village was obtained.

Results: The six semi-urban villages were larger than the six rural villages (10368 vs. 6597 inhabitants) and almost half the total population was under 16.

Conclusions: Accurate census data are important in the design, implementation and interpretation of community studies and intervention trials. We outline the methods by which census data can be collected in rural and semi-urban sub-Saharan African villages, and emphasize the importance of painstaking, thorough work in the collection of such data.

Address correspondence to Professor F.P. Cappuccio, Department of General Practice & Primary Care, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE. e-mail: f.cappuccio{at}sghms.ac.uk


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