Comparison of a palm-based biometric solution with a name-based identification system in rural Bangladesh

Background Unique identifiers are not universal in low- and middle-income countries. Biometric solutions have the potential to augment existing name-based searches used for identification in these settings. This paper describes a comparison of the searching accuracy of a palm-based biometric solution with a name-based database. Objective To compare the identification of individuals between a palm-based biometric solution to a name-based District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) Android application, in a low-resource setting. Methods The study was conducted in Chandpur district, Bangladesh. Trained data collectors enrolled 150 women of reproductive age into two android applications – i) a name-based DHIS2 application, and ii) a palm-based biometric solution – both run on tablets. One week after enrollment, a different research team member attempted to re-identify each enrolled woman using both systems. A single image or text-based name was used for searching at the time of re-identification. We interviewed data collectors at the end of the study. Results Significantly more women were successfully identified on the first attempt with a palm-based biometric application (84%) compared with the name-based DHIS2 application (61%). The proportion of identifications that required three or more attempts was similar between name-based (7%, CI 3.7–12.3) and palm-based biometric system (5%, CI: 1.9–9.4). However, the total number of attempts needed was significantly lower with the palm-based solution (mean 1.2 vs. 1.5, p