USE of capture-recapture methods in epidemiological studies

Although it is quite well known that demographic records such as births and deaths are well documented in developed countries, records which have great importance for society for example HIV infection seem to be missing. The burden of diseases, accidents, drug addictions and issues related to health can not be neglected in societies. In case of large populations of interest, the lack of counting opportunities and insufficient records, it is not possible to determine the actual burden. Thus, policies on disease control will either be insufficient or waste of sources. Due to limitations of health surveys (both routine notification and nationally representative sample studies) in practice, the capture-recapture methods as third alternative may provide reliable estimates. Originally, capture-recapture methodology was developed for estimating population size of the animals in natural habitat and then accordance with needs, the methodology also has been applied to human populations. The aim of many epidemiological researches in this area is to estimate the real size of a population by merging several existing but incomplete lists of the target population. For Dual-System, Lilcoln-Petersen, Chapman, Horvitz-Thompson, Zelterman, Chao Lower Bound estimators were introduced. And also for Multiple-Record System logarithmic linear models and sample coverage approach was reviewed. The estimators were examined with simulated data sets on independence and depencence conditions. The differences, advantages and disadvantages among the methods are reviewed. Results were consistent with literature.