The lot quality technique: a global review of applications in the assessment of health services and disease surveillance.

Since the mid-1980s, there has been growing interest in adapting the lot quality (LQ) technique to monitor the quality of health care services, especially in developing countries. This global review has identified a total of 34 LQ surveys conducted from 1984 to 1996 in Africa, the Americas, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific. Health care parameters assessed in the surveys varied and some surveys assessed more than 1 health parameter: 24 surveys assessed immunization coverage, 9 examined women's health issues such as family planning and antenatal care, 5 assessed use of oral rehydration therapy, 5 estimated disease incidence, and 3 others evaluated health worker performance. These studies indicate that LQ is a practical, relatively low-cost field method which is increasingly being applied in health programmes.