Clinical audit for occupational therapy intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder: sampling steps and sample size calculation

A priori sample size calculations are used to determine the adequate sample size to estimate the prevalence of the target population with good precision. However, published audits rarely report a priori calculations for their sample size. This article discusses a process in health services delivery mapping to generate a comprehensive sampling frame, which was used to calculate an a priori sample size for a targeted clinical record audit. We describe how we approached methodological and definitional issues in the following steps: (1) target population definition, (2) sampling frame construction, and (3) a priori sample size calculation. We recommend this process for clinicians, researchers, or policy makers when detailed information on a reference population is unavailable. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1247-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.