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A number of studies has been performed based on the Nouna DSS population.
- In Baltussen et al. (2000) the feasibility of eliciting disability weights is demonstrated using a culturally-adapted visual analogue scale (VAS). The authors suggest that the preferences of health professionals on disability weights could be used as a proxy for those by lay people at the expense of small deviations.
- In Sankoh et al (2001) a subset of the Nouna DSS data is analyzed by concentrating on the clustering of total childhood mortality (children under five) in the study area. They used a space and space-time scan statistic proposed by Kulldorff (1997) to identify clusters and test for their statistical significance. Several statistically significant clusters of higher childhood mortality rates were identified from different sets of villages. One specific village was consistently identified in the study population indicating a non-random distribution of childhood mortality. The authors conclude that their "study may be regarded as a first step in prioritizing areas for follow-up public health efforts."
- In another recent study, Würthwein et al. (2001) discuss the measurement of the local burden of disease (BOD) with respect of years of life lost (YLL) using the same DSS population. The DSS data exhibit the same qualitative BOD pattern as the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBDS) although with different ranking of the diseases. They recommend that "local health policy should be based on local BOD measurement, rather than on extrapolations that might not represent the true BOD structure by cause."
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