OBJECTIVE:
To present aspects of the sampling plan of the Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SBBrasil Project). with theoretical and operational issues that should be taken into account in the primary data analyses.
METHODS:
The studied population was composed of five demographic groups from urban areas of Brazil in 2010. Two and three stage cluster sampling was used. adopting different primary units. Sample weighting and design effects (deff) were used to evaluate sample consistency.
RESULTS:
In total. 37.519 individuals were reached. Although the majority of deff estimates were acceptable. some domains showed distortions. The majority (90%) of the samples showed results in concordance with the precision proposed in the sampling plan. The measures to prevent losses and the effects the cluster sampling process in the minimum sample sizes proved to be effective for the deff. which did not exceeded 2. even for results derived from weighting.
CONCLUSIONS:
The samples achieved in the SBBrasil 2010 survey were close to the main proposals for accuracy of the design. Some probabilities proved to be unequal among the primary units of the same domain. Users of this database should bear this in mind, introducing sample weighting in calculations of point estimates, standard errors, confidence intervals and design effects.
Dental Health Surveys; methods; Cluster Sampling; Epidemiologic Research Design
