Four decades of measuring stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Demographic and Health Surveys: historical review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Worldwide, an estimated 5.1 million stillbirths and neonatal deaths occur annually, 98% in low- and middle-income countries. Limited coverage of civil and vital registration systems necessitates reliance on women's retrospective reporting in household surveys for data on these deaths. The predominant platform, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), has evolved over the last 35 years and differs by country, yet no previous study has described these differences and the effects of these changes on stillbirth and neonatal death measurement.

Methods

We undertook a review of DHS model questionnaires, protocols and methodological reports from DHS-I to DHS-VII, focusing on the collection of information on stillbirth and neonatal deaths describing differences in approaches,

SUBMITTER: Akuze J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7869207 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature