2024 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey

Seventh Edition

AR: HIV testing Recode
Unit of analysis: Person tested for HIV

Contains the result of lab testing for HIV from blood samples provided by women and men, together with a separate weight variable for use when analyzing HIV test results. This dataset is used for analysis of HIV prevalence (Chapter 14).

BR: Births Recode
Unit of analysis: Birth

Contains the full birth history of all women interviewed, including information on pregnancy and postnatal care as well as immunization, health and nutrition data for children born in the last 5 years. Data for the mother of each of these children are also included. This dataset is used for fertility (Chapter 5) and mortality (Chapter 8) analysis.

CR: Couples Recode
Unit of analysis: Married woman and man

Contains data for married or living together women and men who both declared that they are married (living together) to each other and with completed individual interviews. This dataset is the result of linking the IR (Female) and MR (Male) files, based on whom they both declared as partners. In polygymous societies a man’s data may be linked to more than one woman’s data. This dataset is used for analysis of couples, principally related to HIV (Chapters 13 and 14).

FW: Fieldworker’s Dataset
Unit of analysis: Fieldworker

Contains the basic characteristics of each fieldworker who participated in the survey, including their age, sex, marital status, level of education, region of residence, languages, and prior experience with DHS or other surveys. Data from the fieldworker’s dataset may be linked to the survey responses using the interviewer, supervisor, field editor, or biomarker specialists IDs.

GR: Pregnancies Recode
Unit of analysis: Pregnancy outcome

Contains the full pregnancy history of all women interviewed, including information on type of pregnancy outcome, and pregnancy and postnatal care for pregnancies ending in the 3 years preceding the survey. Data for the mother of each of these pregnancy outcomes are also included.

HR: Household Recode
Unit of analysis: Household

Includes household characteristics, the household roster, and biomarkers rosters as repeating sets of variables. This dataset is used for calculation of household level indicators such as water and sanitation.

IR: Individual (Women’s) Recode
Unit of analysis: De facto woman interviewed

Contains all the data collected in the Woman’s Questionnaire for de facto women plus some variables from the Household Questionnaire. Up to 20 births in the birth history (see also BR file), and up to 6 children under age 5 (see also KR file), for whom pregnancy and postnatal care as well as immunization, health and nutrition data were collected, can be found as repeated variables in this file. This dataset is used for most woman-level analysis including marriage and sexual activity, fertility and fertility preferences, family planning, anthropometry and anemia in women, malaria prevention for women, HIV/AIDS, women’s empowerment, and domestic violence.

KR: Kids Recode
Unit of analysis: Child under age 5 born to a woman interviewed

Contains information related to the child's pregnancy and postnatal care and immunization, health and nutrition data. The data for the mother of each of these children is also included. This dataset is used to look at child health indicators such as immunization coverage, vitamin A supplementation, recent occurrences of diarrhea, fever, and cough for young children and treatment of childhood diseases, nutrition of young children, and malaria prevention and treatment.

MR: Men’s Recode
Unit of analysis: De facto man interviewed

Contains all data collected in the Man’s Questionnaire de facto men plus some variables from the Household Questionnaire. This dataset is used for most man-level analysis including marriage and sexual activity, fertility preferences, and HIV/AIDS.

NR: Pregnancy and postnatal care Recode
Unit of analysis: Pregnancy outcome in the 3 years preceding the survey to a woman interviewed

Contains the information related to pregnancy and postnatal care for pregnancy outcomes in the 3 years preceding the survey. This dataset is used for analysis of maternal healthcare.

PR: Household members (or Persons) Recode
Unit of analysis: Household member

Includes characteristics of household members including age, sex, marital status, education, as well as biomarker measurement information. The dataset includes both de facto and de jure household members. It also includes the characteristics of the households where the individual lives or was visiting. This dataset is used for analysis of education of household members and of anthropometry and anemia in children under age 5.

SR: Siblings Recode
Unit of analysis: Sibling

Contains data for each sibling of the interviewed woman including their sex, survival status, age (if alive), age at death and years since death (if deceased), and for female siblings age 12 and above information on whether the death was pregnancy-related. This dataset is used for analysis of adult and maternal mortality.