TABLE 4.

Benefits and Limitations of Three Methods Used to Compute the Anemia Mukt Bharat Index

MethodBenefitsLimitations
Composite index

  • Normalizes coverage.

  • Reflects overall status/progress.

  • Allows for comparisons across different indicators.

  • Can produce a negative coverage index for nonreported states/districts.

  • Complex to interpret.

  • Can be sensitive to outliers.

Geometric mean

  • Useful for calculating growth rates.

  • Less sensitive to outliers compared to the simple average method.

  • Can produce zero index value with zero coverage states.

  • May not be suitable for data with zero values.

Simple average

  • Gives equal weightage to all groups.

  • Simple to understand and interpret.

  • Less sensitive to fluctuations in individual indicators.

  • May not be suitable for complex analyses.

  • Requires different weights for groups.

  • Can be influenced by outliers.