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Age variables [message #3434]

Wed, 10 December 2014 15:23

Bill
Messages: 8
Registered: December 2014

Member

The 2008-2009 Kenya DHS as the following age variables
* Household (women, children, and men)
* pr:hv105: Age of household member
* Women
* pr:ha1: Age in years
* ir:v012: Current age
* Men
* pr:hb1: Age in years
* mr:mv012: Current age
* Children
* pr:hc1: Age in months
* kr:hw1: Age in months

Here is how these variables agree or disagree
* Women
* ir:v012 agrees with pr:hv105 on 7320 and disagrees on 1124
* ir:v012 agrees with pr:ha1 on 8438 and disagrees on 6
* Men
* mr:mv012 agrees with pr:hv105 on 2634 and disagrees on 831
* mr:mv012 agrees with pr:hb1 on 3462 and disagrees on 3
* Children
* floor(kr:hw1/12) agrees with pr:hv105 on 5110 and disagrees on 380
* kr:hw1 agrees with pr:hc1 on all 5490

Why do the variables disagree, and which would be the most accurate to use?

Many thanks,

Bill

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Re: Age variables [message #3466 is a reply to message #3434]

Mon, 15 December 2014 14:50

Sarah-DHS
Messages: 54
Registered: February 2013

Senior Member

Bill,

Here is a response from analysts Cameron Taylor and Rebecca Winter.
Thank you for your question, this can be a confusing subject. The disagreement in individual age reports between the various standard DHS recode files is due to the origin of the age information. Information in the PR file comes from the DHS household roster, which is provided by one member in the household, often the household head. Information in the IR and MR files, by contrast, comes from individual interviews. In the IR file, for example, v012 provides the respondent's report of her current age, while in the PR file, hv105 provides this same woman's age based on the report of the household member who provided information for the household roster. While the two reports generally agree, they do not always. If you are conducting an analysis using the IR file, it is best to use the age information provided in that file.

Please let us know if you need additional clarification.
Sarah-DHS

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Re: Age variables [message #3488 is a reply to message #3466]

Tue, 16 December 2014 19:07

Bill
Messages: 8
Registered: December 2014

Member

Thank you for your explanation. I do have one followup.

The variables
* ir:v012 and pr:ha1
* mr:mv012 and pr:hb1
agree for most individuals, but disagree on some. When they disagree, the IR or MR variable is always one year older than the PR variable. Do you know the reason for this?

Many thanks,

Bill

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Re: Age variables [message #3493 is a reply to message #3488]

Wed, 17 December 2014 09:51

Sarah-DHS
Messages: 54
Registered: February 2013

Senior Member

Bill,

A reply from Cameron Taylor and Rebecca Winter:
Hi Bill
The discrepancy between the age variables you mentioned (ir:v012 and pr: ha1/ mr:mv012 and pr:hb1) can be explained by the way DHS calculates the variables v012 and mv012. These variables are calculated from the century month code of the respondent's date of birth.

This calculation can best be summarized in the DHS Standard Recode Manual for DHS 6. The calculation for v012 can be found on page 34. This explanation is also applicable to the male variable mv012.

"Current age in completed years is calculated from the century month code of the date of birth of the respondent (V011) and the century month code of the date of interview (V008). In a few cases the age in the data file will be different from that reported by the respondent when the respondent's birthday was in the month of interview, but she had not yet had her birthday. If the respondent correctly reported her age at her last birthday (and not her age at her next birthday) then the calculated age was rounded up from the reported age, to avoid inconsistencies between the age and the century month code for the birth."

Please let us know if you have any additional questions

Thanks,
Sarah-DHS

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Re: Age variables [message #3496 is a reply to message #3493]

Thu, 18 December 2014 22:09

Bill
Messages: 8
Registered: December 2014

Member

Dear Cameron, Rebecca, and Sarah,

Thank you very much for the explanation. This explains why relatively few ages disagree, and why they are always off by one year in the same direction.

Now that we understand the difference between the age variables, we know which ones to use.

Many thanks,

Bill

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