Demographic and Health Surveys Methodology - Measure DHS
Demographic and Health Surveys Methodology - Measure DHS
Demographic and Health Surveys Methodology - Measure DHS
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In the <strong>DHS</strong> tables, only episodes that began within the calendar period <strong>and</strong> 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 <strong>and</strong> 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 <strong>and</strong> 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 <strong>and</strong> their categorization has changed.In <strong>DHS</strong> I <strong>and</strong> II surveys, modern methods included pill, IUD, injection, vaginal methods, condom, femalesterilization, <strong>and</strong> male sterilization. The vaginal methods included in a single group diaphragm, foam, <strong>and</strong>jelly. Traditional methods included periodic abstinence (of any kind), withdrawal, <strong>and</strong> all respondentmentionedother methods.In <strong>DHS</strong> III surveys, modern methods included pill, IUD, injection, vaginal methods, condom, femalesterilization, male sterilization, <strong>and</strong> implants. Traditional methods included periodic abstinence (of anykind), withdrawal, <strong>and</strong> lactational amenorrhea. Folk methods included respondent-mentioned othermethods <strong>and</strong> were categorized separately from traditional methods.In <strong>Measure</strong> <strong>DHS</strong>+ (<strong>DHS</strong> 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, <strong>and</strong> other methods.Guide to <strong>DHS</strong> Statistics 57 Updated September 2006