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Active relationship [message #14034] Mon, 05 February 2018 06:39 Go to next message
georgesd is currently offline  georgesd
Messages: 8
Registered: January 2018
Member
Hi all,

I am struggeling trying to infer if a reported sexual relationship is active or not.

I want to know, at the time of the interview, if the respondent is still actively/sexually engaged in a relationship with one of the 3 last partners reported (HIV part of the questionnaire).
So far I am using the v529, v832b and v832c variables that represent the time since last sex with last, 2nd and 3rd last sexual partners and using an arbitrary time threshold (which can vary by type of relationship (spouse, live-in partner, boyfriend, sexual workers, ...)) to say if the partnership is still active or not.

In some surveys (e.g. NATSAL) they ask a specific question such as 'Do you plan to have sex again with this partner?' which can be use as direct proxy of an ongoing partnership. I do not think we have access to anything similar in DHS surveys (should be added in the next ones?).

My approach is far to be ideal, does anybody have an idea of how to do it better?

Best regards,
Damien
Re: Active relationship [message #14575 is a reply to message #14034] Sat, 21 April 2018 21:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
kingx025 is currently offline  kingx025
Messages: 95
Registered: August 2016
Location: Minneapolis. Minnesota
Senior Member
This is not a direct answer to your question, but I thought it might be useful to show, looking across a wide range (117) of samples, which variables relating to sexual experience are widely available. An X indicates that a variable is included in the sample (country and year) listed directly above. Here are the variable from IPUMS-DHS covering recent sexual activity:

https://www.idhsdata.org/idhs-action/variables/group?id=sex_ recent

and here's the availability of variables on recent sexual partners:
https://www.idhsdata.org/idhs-action/variables/group?id=sex_ partner

I hope this is helpful--or at least reassures you that you are not overlooking some great variable that better serves your purpose.

Miriam King


Dr. Miriam King
IPUMS-DHS Project Manager (www.idhsdata.org)
Re: Active relationship [message #14620 is a reply to message #14575] Mon, 23 April 2018 05:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
georgesd is currently offline  georgesd
Messages: 8
Registered: January 2018
Member
Dear Miriam,

Thanks a lot for your reply.
Unfortunately I did not found any new revolutionary variable to handle the 'current status' of relationships for my focus countries but as you suggested that is reassuring to be sure not to overlook any key variable.

Moreover, I was not aware of idshsdata website which definitely is a great tool to access quick and relevant overview of what data are available (and to make specific extractions). That will help for sure in a close future.

Thanks again,
Damien
Re: Active relationship [message #14625 is a reply to message #14620] Mon, 23 April 2018 10:19 Go to previous message
kingx025 is currently offline  kingx025
Messages: 95
Registered: August 2016
Location: Minneapolis. Minnesota
Senior Member
Thanks, Damien. Good luck with your research.

Miriam


Dr. Miriam King
IPUMS-DHS Project Manager (www.idhsdata.org)
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