Global review of health care surveys using lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS)- 1984-2004.

We conducted a global review on the use of lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) to assess health care services- health behaviors- and disease burden. Publications and reports on LQAS surveys were sought from Medline and five other electronic databases/ the World Health Organization/ the World Bank/ governments- nongovernmental organizations- and individual scientists. We identified a total of 805 LQAS surveys conducted by different management groups during January 1984 through December 2004. There was a striking increase in the annual number of LQAS surveys conducted in 2000-2004 (128/year) compared with 1984-1999 (10/year). Surveys were conducted in 55 countries- and in 12 of these countries there were 10 or more LQAS surveys. Geographically- 317 surveys (39.4%) were conducted in Africa- 197 (28.5%) in the Americas- 115 (14.3%) in the Eastern Mediterranean- 114 (14.2%) in South-East Asia- 48 (6.0%) in Europe- and 14 (1.8%) in the Western Pacific. Health care parameters varied- and some surveys assessed more