SAPRIN Individual Demographic Dataset 2018

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.