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Abortion section [message #8487] Tue, 03 November 2015 07:40 Go to next message
ewa.b is currently offline  ewa.b
Messages: 37
Registered: January 2014
Member
Hello,

I have a question regarding what is called the Abortion section of the DHS. I have found through the DHS website -> Survey Characteristics that 97 countries have such a section. I wanted to know what information this section includes and how I could find more information about what questions about abortion are asked.

I am using Colombia 2010 DHS and there are some varibales in the dataset regarding, it seems to me, attititudes towards abortion and knowledge about law. Is that what what is meant by Abortion section?

Also, there is one variable "reason hospitalization: abortion threat". Could you advise:
-what exactly this variable means?
-how to find out what question specifically has been asked to get this information?
-why are there 7 variables which have the same label "reason hospitalization: abortion threat" (s250e, s440e_1, s440e_2, s440e_3, s440e_4, s440e_5, s440e_6)?

Many thanks,
Ewa
Re: Abortion section [message #8574 is a reply to message #8487] Tue, 17 November 2015 13:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User,
Attached is a spreadsheet showing completed surveys with abortion questions. If you hover over the comments, you will see exactly what was asked. In order to be part of the survey characteristics on our website, there must a variable to count the abortions. This variable and possibly others associated with it will then appear as country specific in the recoded dataset. Our standard core questionnaire for DHS6 only asks the following question but does not quantify it: "Did you have any miscarriages, abortions or stillbirths that ended before 2005 (1)?" I hope this helps. Regarding the second part of your question, please look at questions 250 and 440 in the woman's questionnaire. Question 250 is for the current pregnancy and question 440 is for children born in the last five years. If you are looking at the woman's file, the question is expanded for every child with an underscore which lets you know which child you are looking at. However, only the first variable (S440e_1) has valid information as the question was only asked for the last child born in the last five years.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to post again.
Thank you!

[Updated on: Wed, 18 November 2015 17:20]

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Re: Abortion section [message #8662 is a reply to message #8574] Wed, 25 November 2015 10:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ewa.b is currently offline  ewa.b
Messages: 37
Registered: January 2014
Member
Thank you for that response and the spreadsheet, it is very helpful. I have one more question regarding your answer. You mention that:

"In order to be part of the survey characteristics on our website, there must a variable to count the abortions"

Does that mean that among the country specific variables there is a variable which specifically identifies which women underwent an abortion? I guess it is country specific, but would you be able to give more detail which variable it is exacly?

And what does it mean that this variable counts the abortions?

I am working with reproductive calendar examining the births/terminations in the past 5 years. I would be interested in figuring out which of the terminations (T) are abortions (as opposed to for example miscarriages). Would that be possible given that you mention that there is some variable which counts the abortions?

I would very much appreciate your further help.

Thank you!
Ewa
Re: Abortion section [message #8663 is a reply to message #8662] Wed, 25 November 2015 10:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User,
Country specific variables normally begin with the letter "S" and have the same question number as in the questionnaire. For example in Armenia DHS 2010, the woman's questionnaire has Q209A which asks about the number of abortions the woman has had (this is what I meant about the count). The Country Specific variable would then be S209A in the recode file. It would most likely be different in every other survey containing this type of information because the questions numbers would be different. The variable doesn't count the number of abortions. The number in S209A is used as the number of abortions she has had. I don't think you can determine definitively which of the terminations in the calendar are abortions, miscarriages, or stillbirths. Some surveys ask information about all three but I don't think you can definitely determine between the calendar and the country specific variable. That is why it is a country specific variable. When the data is distributed, we normally have a Word document which is distributed with the data. This document should contain all the country specific variables along with their descriptive label. Hope this helps to clarify.
Re: Abortion section [message #9130 is a reply to message #8663] Sun, 14 February 2016 12:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
ewa.b is currently offline  ewa.b
Messages: 37
Registered: January 2014
Member
Many thanks for the reply and clarifications.
Re: Abortion section [message #13335 is a reply to message #8574] Tue, 24 October 2017 06:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
lillo?S is currently offline  lillo?S
Messages: 26
Registered: December 2015
Member
Hello,
Do you have an updated version of the excel file including the questions on abortion by survey?
Thank you.
Re: Abortion section [message #13483 is a reply to message #13335] Wed, 08 November 2017 15:09 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Liz-DHS
Messages: 1516
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Dear User,
Please see attached.
Re: Abortion section [message #23603 is a reply to message #13483] Tue, 19 October 2021 12:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
wps2674 is currently offline  wps2674
Messages: 4
Registered: October 2021
Member
Hello,

Do you have an updated version of the excel file including the questions on abortion by survey?
Or, preferably, is there information on only miscarriage and/or stillbirth?
I need to find out the most recent information on these outcomes.
Thank you very much for your help!

[Updated on: Tue, 19 October 2021 12:03]

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Re: Abortion section [message #23825 is a reply to message #23603] Thu, 09 December 2021 16:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bridgette-DHS is currently offline  Bridgette-DHS
Messages: 3195
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
To see a list of surveys with information on abortions, please use the survey characteristics search on the website, and search for "abortion". This will indicate the surveys that include information on abortions.
Re: Abortion section [message #23830 is a reply to message #23825] Fri, 10 December 2021 11:23 Go to previous message
wps2674 is currently offline  wps2674
Messages: 4
Registered: October 2021
Member
Thank you very much!
I guess all abortion information here is "induced abortion" rather than "spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)"?
Thanks!
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