Demographic and Health Surveys Methodology - Measure DHS

In the DHS tables, only episodes that began within the calendar period and ended three months before theinterview are included. Episodes that began before the beginning of the calendar are excluded. Episodesthat ended in the month of interview or the two months prior are treated as censored at three monthsbefore the interview rather than terminated afterwards to avoid bias due to unrecognized pregnancies.For methods that are not followed by another method or a pregnancy, it is assumed that the methodepisode started on average in the middle of the first month of use and ended in the middle of the monthafter the last noted month of use. If the month following the last noted method indicates a pregnancy or adifferent method, then it is assumed that the episode ended on average in the middle of that followingmonth. Thus, the duration of exposure is taken as the difference between the month of first use and themonth of last use (i.e., equal to the number of months during that episode with a notation for the method).Methods that have less than 125 months of exposure (unweighted) are not shown because of largesampling variance.Changes over TimeThe list of specific methods and their categorization has changed.In DHS I and II surveys, modern methods included pill, IUD, injection, vaginal methods, condom, femalesterilization, and male sterilization. The vaginal methods included in a single group diaphragm, foam, andjelly. Traditional methods included periodic abstinence (of any kind), withdrawal, and all respondentmentionedother methods.In DHS III surveys, modern methods included pill, IUD, injection, vaginal methods, condom, femalesterilization, male sterilization, and implants. Traditional methods included periodic abstinence (of anykind), withdrawal, and lactational amenorrhea. Folk methods included respondent-mentioned othermethods and were categorized separately from traditional methods.In Measure DHS+ (DHS IV) surveys, emergency contraception was added to the list of contraceptivemethods but is not included as a separate method for current use (i.e., included in “other”). Thequestionnaire allows for more than one method to be currently used. For specific methods, the followinghierarchy is used to tabulate current use: female sterilization, male sterilization, contraceptive pill,intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD), contraceptive injection, contraceptive implants (Norplant),condoms, vaginal methods (foam, jelly, suppository), lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), periodicabstinence, withdrawal, and other methods.Guide to DHS Statistics 57 Updated September 2006