This project is aimed at providing Stata, SPSS, and R code for all DHS Program indicators listed in the Guide to DHS Statistics. The code is published on the DHS Program Github site which contains three repositories: DHS-Indicators-Stata, DHS-Indicators-SPSS, and DHS-Indicators-R. Users can download the code from these repositories or clone the repository to their own Github site. Users can also suggest changes to the code that will be reviewed by DHS Program staff before acceptance.
The Guide to DHS Statistics contains 19 Chapters. Chapters 2-19 cover the chapters that would be found in a DHS final report assuming all modules such as domestic violence, female genital cutting, and fistula were included in a survey. These chapters also cover DHS modules for Malaria and HIV Prevalence, as well as those not part of the core questionnaires. Chapter one is an introduction that does not require code.
The Guide defines an indicator, names the pertinent variables, and explains how the indicator is computed. The DHS Program Code Share Project follows the instructions in the guide required to produce the indicators.
This DHS Code Share Project provides the code that can be used to produce these indicators as well as the standard tables found in a DHS Final Report. The code is organized into one folder for each chapter to follow the organization of the Guide to DHS Statistics. Each chapter has a two-letter abbreviation as shown in the table below. IndicatorList.xlsx provides a list of all the indicators along with their labels that will be coded in this project.
Each folder contains a Main File from which the user can run all the code files (.do, .sps, or .R files) that will code the indicators and produce the tables for that chapter. The user only needs to change the paths in the Main File and the file name for the survey of interest. The user should not delete the globals (macros), and should only change to the correct path and survey for their project. Before running any code, it is advisable to read the Main File for a specific chapter and the associated code files for any notes. For some chapters a selection is required to choose the population of interest; for example, selecting the age group for the children's vaccination indicators in the CH_VAC.do file or for indicators restricted to married women versus all women in the Family Planning chapter. The user may also select the indicators they are interested in for the chapter. Therefore, certain code files can be commented out in the Main Files so they do not run, or certain sections within a code file can also be commented out. If certain indicators are commented out, the same indicators in the table code file for the tabulations will also need to be commented out.
There are some country specific changes that may be required. For instance, what is considered a skilled attendant at delivery or what qualifies as a treatment source for acute respiratory infection (ARI) or fever may differ from survey to survey. The user can check the DHS Final Report of the survey to know the correct changes required (in the footnote for the table of interest) and make the change in the code files. Instructions for these specific changes for an indicator are given in the code files to guide the user on how to make the change.
Additionally, because the indicators that are created using the Code Share Project are based on the Guide to DHS Statistics, they reflect the standard variables that are available in a recent DHS survey dataset. If the provided code is used to create indicators from older surveys, it is possible the variable names have changed over time or are not available in the older survey. The user may need to check the dataset in use for the availability of the variables needed for coding and may have to adjust for missing variables or rename variables accordingly. Some of the code files will generate the variables with missing values for old surveys if the survey does not have that variable. In addition, older surveys (mainly before 2000) do not have a wealth index in the dataset and the files would need to be merged with a WI file to include the wealth index. For anthropometry indicators, surveys before roughly 2006 need to be merged with a HW file to obtain the WHO haz, waz, and whz indicators. Please visit our page on Merging Datasets to learn how to merge DHS datasets .
Tabulations do not check for the number of observations. The DHS convention is to suppress estimates that are based on less than 25 unweighted observations and to place in parenthesis any estimate based on 25-49 observations. It is the user?s responsibility to check the number of unweighted observations before relying on the estimate. The tabulations also do not provide any statistical testing or confidence intervals.
Some DHS surveys only interview ever-married women in the woman's questionnaire. This can effect the calculation of some of the indicators. The current code adjusts for ever-married samples only for the fertility indicators in Chapter 5 and the wanted fertility rates in Chapter 6. The following indicators that can also be affected by ever-married samples do not include this adjustment: Chapter 4: Current marital status, first married by specific ages, median age at first marriage, first sexual intercourse by specific ages, and median age at first sexual intercourse. Chapter 5: Currently pregnant, mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49, number of children ever born, mean number of children ever born, mean number of living children, women who gave birth by specific ages, median age at first birth, and teenage girls who are mothers. For more information about adjusting for ever-married samples using the all woman factors, please see The Guide to DHS Statistics.
For all table syntax files, the default age selection for women/men is 15-49. Cases outside this age range are dropped. If a different age selection is required, you can make this change in the table syntax file. Please read the notes at the top of each table syntax file.
There are two commands that can be used for producing tables for the indicators in SPSS: ctables and crosstab. The ctables command (Custom Tables) is easier to use and more powerful, however the Custom Tables module is a separate module that must be purchased in addition to the SPSS Base module. If the user does not have this module installed then they can use the crosstab command. The current SPSS code for producing tables has both commands available with the crosstab commands commented out. Please use the appropriate command for your needs.
In Stata the tabout command is used to create tables. This is a package that needs to be installed before it can be used. To install tabout, enter "ssc install tabout" in the Stata command window.
These scripts typically use expss package to create tables that can utilize survey weights and labelled data. More recent scripts use openxlsx package to export tables to excel. Older scripts may use xlsx package.
The DHS Program is making updates and adding new indicators in DHS Phase 8.
Please check the IndicatorList excel file for the updated list of indicators and their labels. Each chapter of the Code Share Library will contain a subfolder for DHS8 updates when they are available. Updates will begin with the Stata code which will be completed in September 2023 and updates to R and SPSS code will be completed in September 2024.
Currently DHS8 updates to Chapters 3 and 4 are available.
NOTE: WASH indicators are found in Chapter 16 in the updated DHS Guide to Statistics, but found in Chapter 2 in this repository.
There are no changes in DHS8 for the chapters that cover adult and maternal mortality (AM), female genital cutting (FG), and Fistula (FS).
| Ch. | Title | Ch. Acronym | Code Available for DHS8? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Population & Housing | PH | Forthcoming |
| 3 | Respondents? Characteristics | RC | Yes |
| 4 | Marriage & Sexual Activity | MS | Yes |
| 5 | Fertility | FE | Forthcoming |
| 6 | Fertility Preferences | FF | Forthcoming |
| 7 | Family Planning | FP | Forthcoming |
| 8 | Infant & Child Mortality | CM | Forthcoming |
| 9 | Reproductive Health | RH | Forthcoming |
| 10 | Child Health | CH | Forthcoming |
| 11 | Nutrition of Children & Adults | NT | Forthcoming |
| 12 | Malaria | ML | Forthcoming |
| 13 | HIV-AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, & Behaviors | HK | Forthcoming |
| 14 | HIV Prevalence | HV | Forthcoming |
| 15 | Women's Empowerment | WE | Forthcoming |
| 16 | Adult & Maternal Mortality | AM | No Changes in DHS8 |
| 17 | Domestic Violence | DV | Forthcoming |
| 18 | Female Genital Cutting | FG | No Changes in DHS8 |
| 19 | Fistula | FS | No Changes in DHS8 |
For questions, please visit the GitHub Code Share Library Topic on the DHS Program User Forum here.