Applying Zero-inflated Mixed Model to School Absenteeism Surveillance in Rural China

Absenteeism has great advantages in promoting the early detection of epidemics1. Since August 2011, an integrated syndromic surveillance project (ISSC) has been implemented in China2. Distribution of the absenteeism generally are asymmetry, zero inflation, truncation and non-independence3. For handling these encumbrances, we should apply the Zero-inflated Mixed Model (ZIMM).

Objective

To describe and explore the spatial and temporal variability via ZIMM for absenteeism surveillance in primary school for early detection of infectious disease outbreak in rural China.