SOUNDEX Calculators

SXDOS.EXE and SXWIN.EXE are SOUNDEX calculators for the MSDOS and Windows (v3.1x, '95, '98, and NT 3.51 or later) operating systems.

The use of SOUNDEX codes provides an alternative to supplying surnames when confidentiality is required. Confidentiality is ensured as no SOUNDEX code is unique to a single surname. This makes it possible to share confidential data about (e.g.) sexually transmitted infections or psychiatric conditions without using surnames.

SOUNDEX coding is well suited to the public health surveillance of stigmatized diseases.

Click here for a description of the SOUNDEX coding algorithm.

You can download the SOUNDEX calculators by clicking on the link below:

Download SOUNDEX calculators (131KB)

The downloaded file will be called SX.exe. This file is a self-extracting archive. When you run this file it will install the SOUNDEX calculators in a directory of your choice. The file Readme.txt describes the operation of the two programs.

ShowSoundex.mdb is a simple Microsoft Access '95 database that implements the SOUNDEX coding algorithm in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA):

Download the ShowSoundex.mdb demo application (250KB)

SOUNDEX coding may also be used to identify potential duplicate records with a high sensitivity. Combining SOUNDEX with other personal identifying data such as sex and year of birth provides a more specific method of identifying potential duplicates than the use of SOUNDEX alone.

DUPS is an add-in to EpiInfo (v5.xx and v6.xx) which allows SOUNDEX codes to be added to EpiInfo data (.REC) files and includes facilities to combine the SOUNDEX code with other fields in an EpInfo data (.REC) file. DUPS was written by Denis M. Coulombier. You can download DUPS by clicking on the link below:

Download DUPS (47KB)

The downloaded file will be called SxDup.exe. This file is a self-extracting archive. When you run this file it will install DUPS in a directory of your choice. The file DUPS.rtf describes the operation of the program.