Cebu City - The Operation Timbang Plus or OPT Plus has been mentioned a couple of times especially when scrolling through the webpage of the National Nutrition Council. As cited in the previous articles that highlights the subject. OPT Plus is basically an activity that gathers the anthropometric measurements of children to look into their nutritional status and determine the nutritional standing of the barangay and later on collated to produce the provincial, regional and national database.

It was also alluded to in the previous write-up the implication of good quality data and the importance of having accurate and reliable anthropometric measurements to ascertain the real nutrition situation and plan for appropriate interventions. This time this article tackles the different dimensions of OPT Plus data quality.

First dimension is accuracy which determines the OPT data level of quality. The purpose of this dimension is to evaluate the accuracy of measurements and the measurement instruments. Indicators to be included have a direct impact on the quality of data obtained, such as the child's weight, length/height, and the determined nutritional status.

Regardless of the user or frequency of the action, the reliability quality dimension is concerned with producing data using established processes or procedures that can be reliably reproduced. The capabilities of the OPT Plus team to adhere to standardized norms and processes and deliver consistent findings are indicators that will be used to gauge reliability.

The third dimension tackles completeness which is the coverage of the data collected in the targeted population and area. While the fourth dimension is on timeliness that is pertaining to the evaluation of OPT Plus data and reports delivered to key individuals over the protocol's defined timeframe.

Usefulness, which is the fifth dimension, refers to the provision of nutritional services to the target groups or beneficiaries. And lastly the sixth dimension is on integrity which is when the method used to produce them is safeguarded from purposeful biases or manipulation for political or personal purposes. 

Knowing the dimensions will undoubtedly help the OPT Plus team prepare for the next events in addition to the OPT Plus team's extensive knowledge. // DMOII Christine Lopez, RND