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Comparison Between Birth weight Variable m19 & m18 [message #20488] Wed, 11 November 2020 11:40 Go to next message
shujaat.smc@gmail.com is currently offline  shujaat.smc@gmail.com
Messages: 75
Registered: July 2020
Senior Member
Dear DHS Presentative,

I want to make a comparison between the birth weight variable (m19) & the perceived size of the baby at birth.

For this, I was recoding the m19 as following using stata

" recode m19 (500=0.5) (681=0.681) (750=0.750) (1000=1.000) (1001=1.001) (1009=1.009) ///
(1050=1.050) (1100=1.100) (1134=1.134) (1200=1200) (1250=1.250) (1361=1.361) ///
(1400 =1.400) (1500=1.500) (1586= 1.586) (1700=1.700) (1750= 1.750) (1800=1.800) ///
(1813=1.813) (1900=1.900) (1930=1.930) (2000=2.000) (2007=2.007) (2042=2.042) ///
(2050=2.050) (2100=2.100) (2200=2.200) (2240=2.240) (2250=2.250) (2268=2.268) ///
(2300=2.300) (2361=2.361) (2364=2.364) (2400=2.400) (2410=2.410) (2495=2.495) ///
(2500=2.500) (2506=2.506) (2572=2.572) (2600=2.600) (2605=2.605) (2680=2.680) (2700=2.700) (2722=2.722) ///
(2750=2.750) (2800=2.800) (2900=2.900) (2946=2.946) (2947=2.947) (2948=2.948) (3000=3.000) ///
(3001=3.001) (3002=3.002) (3003=3.003) (3004=3.004) (3005=3.005) (3006=3.006) (3007=3.007) ///
(3015= 3.015) (3050=3.050) (3060=3.060) (3080=3.080) (3100=3.100) (3174=3.174) (3200=3.200) ///
(3240=3.240) (3250=3.250) (3280=3.280) (3300=3.300) (3400=3.400) (3402=3.402) (3500=3.500) ///
(3540=3.540) (3600=3.600) (3626=3.626) (3627=3.627) (3629=3.629) (3670=3.670) (3700=3.700) ///
(3750=3.750) (3800=3.800) (3856=3.856) (3900=3.900) (4000=4.000) (4011=4.011) (4080=4.080) ///
(4083= 4.083) (4100=4.100) (4150=4.150) (4200=4.200) (4250=4.250) (4300=4.300) (4308=4.308) ///
(4500 =4.500) (4536=4.536) (4600=4.600) (4763=4.763) (4988=4.988) (5000=5.000) (5200/.= ".") , gen (Birthweight)

The birth weight mentioned in variable m19 above 5000, I want to drop because of the high possibility of measurement error & recall bias.

This also raises a question on the data collection team & their supervisors for why they have accepted such high value for birth weight.

Question: How can I make a comparison between the measured birth weight (m19) & the perceived size of the baby at birth (m18).



Best Regards

Dr. Hussain
Re: Comparison Between Birth weight Variable m19 & m18 [message #20498 is a reply to message #20488] Thu, 12 November 2020 09:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bridgette-DHS is currently offline  Bridgette-DHS
Messages: 3038
Registered: February 2013
Senior Member
Following is a response from DHS Research & Data Analysis Director, Tom Pullum:

A more efficient way to do your recode would be with "gen Birthweight=m19/1000" and "replace Birthweight=. if Birthweight>5". The way you did it is tedious, has a high risk of typing errors, and is not generalizable to other surveys because you had to run the full distribution of observed values first.

If you want to truncate the distribution at some high level, you can do so. 5 kilos (11 pounds) is certainly a high value, but I am sure there are accurately recorded values higher than that.

You also asked this: "How can I make a comparison between the measured birth weight (m19) & the perceived size of the baby at birth (m18)." You could do "tab m18 [iweight=v005/1000000], summarize(Birthweight)", for example. You can also do "graph box Birthweight, over(m18)", adding options for weighting and appearance.

You expect an association but not a high level of agreement between these two variables. Weight and size are different things. The estimate of size is subjective. It depends on how many newborn babies the respondent has seen and on her comparison group. Perhaps most of the newborns she has seen were low birthweight, in which case that could be her "average".

As you know, in the latest Pakistan survey, the one you are using, m19 is "not weighed at birth" or "DK" for about 80% of births. The children who were weighed were mostly born in a facility and are not representative of all births.

[Updated on: Thu, 12 November 2020 10:10]

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Re: Comparison Between Birth weight Variable m19 & m18 [message #20503 is a reply to message #20498] Thu, 12 November 2020 09:45 Go to previous message
shujaat.smc@gmail.com is currently offline  shujaat.smc@gmail.com
Messages: 75
Registered: July 2020
Senior Member
Dear Tom Pullum,

I have no words except "Thanks" for you and all the DHS team for the great guidance you are providing to me and other users on this forum.

Best Regards

Dr. Hussain

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