Food Deprivation, Water Deprivation
Conditions
Keywords
Food Insecurity, Water Insecurity
Brief summary
List experiment to measure food and water insecurity
Detailed description
Food and water insecurity are complex, multi-domain constructs. Given their known association with important health and mental health outcomes, accurate assessment of food and water insecurity in resource-limited settings is paramount. The purpose of this study is to use a list experiment methodology to assess the extent to which there is bias in conventional survey-based means of direct elicitation of food and water insecurity. The list experiment provides an indirect means to measure a particular construct of interest. It is hypothesized that social desirability may cause upward bias in conventional survey-based means of direct elicitation of food and water insecurity.
Interventions
OTHERSurvey questionnaire
Each version of the questionnaire includes a different number of true-false statements that study participants are asked to identify.
Sponsors
Massachusetts General Hospital
Mbarara University of Science and Technology
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Masking description
Study participants are asked to identify the number of true statements in a list, where the number of true statements is randomly assigned. Neither study participants nor outcomes assessors are provided with information about "treatment" assignment.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* All adults who consider Nyakabare their primary place of residence and who are capable of providing consent
Exclusion criteria
* Minors younger than 18 years of age, with the exception of emancipated minors * Persons who do not consider Nyakabare Parish their primary place of residence, e.g., persons who happen to be visiting Nyakabare at the time of the survey or who own a home in Nyakabare but spend most of their time outside the parish * Persons with psychosis, neurological damage, acute intoxication, or other cognitive impairment (all of which are determined informally in the field by non-clinical research staff in consultation with a supervisor)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| No Food Due to Lack of Money | Baseline (The experimental manipulation in this study has to do with which version of the survey the study participant receives, so the time frame for assessment is immediate even though participants are asked about the past month) | "In the last month, was there ever no food to eat in the house because the participant lacked money to buy more?" (single item, culturally adapted from the 3-item Household Hunger Scale of USAID's Household Food Insecurity Access Scale \[HFIAS\]; response options yes/no) |
| No Water Due to Difficulty Collecting | Baseline (The experimental manipulation in this study has to do with which version of the survey the study participant receives, so the time frame for assessment is immediate even though participants are asked about the past month) | "In the last month, was there ever no water in the participant's house because it was too difficult to collect more?" (single item, culturally adapted to indicate water insecurity, paralleling the 3-item Household Hunger Scale of USAID's Household Food Insecurity Access Scale \[HFIAS\]; response options yes/no) |
| Going to Sleep Hungry | Baseline (The experimental manipulation in this study has to do with which version of the survey the study participant receives, so the time frame for assessment is immediate even though participants are asked about the past month) | "In the last month, did the participant or one of their household members ever go to sleep hungry because there was not enough food?" (single item, culturally adapted from the 3-item Household Hunger Scale of USAID's Household Food Insecurity Access Scale \[HFIAS\]; response options yes/no) |
| Going to Sleep Thirsty | Baseline (The experimental manipulation in this study has to do with which version of the survey the study participant receives, so the time frame for assessment is immediate even though participants are asked about the past month) | "In the last month, did the participant or one of their household members ever go to sleep thirsty because there was not enough water?" (single item, culturally adapted to indicate water insecurity, paralleling the 3-item Household Hunger Scale of USAID's Household Food Insecurity Access Scale \[HFIAS\]; response options yes/no) |
| No Food for Entire Day | Baseline (The experimental manipulation in this study has to do with which version of the survey the study participant receives, so the time frame for assessment is immediate even though participants are asked about the past month) | "In the last month, did the participant or one of their household members ever go an entire day and night without eating anything because there was not enough food?" (single item, culturally adapted from the 3-item Household Hunger Scale of USAID's Household Food Insecurity Access Scale \[HFIAS\]; response options yes/no) |
| Drink Unsafe Water | Baseline (The experimental manipulation in this study has to do with which version of the survey the study participant receives, so the time frame for assessment is immediate even though participants are asked about the past month) | "In the last month, did the participant or one of their household members ever drink water that they thought might not be safe for their health?" (single item, culturally adapted to indicate water insecurity, developed specifically for this study; response options yes/no) |
Countries
Uganda
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAlexander C Tsai, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Outcome results
None listed