Description

For women who had symptoms of a sexually transmitted infection in the past 12 months, STIADFRND indicates whether, in response to an open-ended question, they reported seeking advice or treatment from friends or relatives for this problem.

Comparability — Index

Comparability

Along with universe differences, STIADFRND varies slightly in question wording. Most commonly, this response category is organized under an "Other Source" header and is worded as "friends/relatives." Samples that significantly diverge from this convention are noted below.

Additionally, samples vary in how they asked about sexually transmitted infections. For example, surveys in Phase V forward generally asked if the woman had any STI, a genital sore/ulcer, and a genital discharge. In Phase III, the surveys mentioned additional infections. Due to this variation, researchers are encouraged to review the Survey Text tab for samples of interest.

Comparability - Standard DHS

STIADFRND first appears in Phase III of the Standard DHS questionnaire. Women with a sexually transmitted infection in the last 12 months are asked whether they sought treatment, and, if yes, are asked an open-ended question about where treatment was sought (e.g., "Where did you seek advice or treatment? Anywhere else?"). The base universe in this phase was women who had a sexually transmitted infection for which they sought treatment in the 12 months prior to the interview.

In Phase IV, women are asked closed-ended questions about whether they sought treatment at a specific source (e.g., "The last time you had (INFECTION), did you seek advice from a health worker in a clinic or hospital?"). Given the conceptual differences between phases, samples from Phase IV are excluded from STIADFRND. For a similar variable for surveys using the closed-question format, see STIADFRNDYN

In Phase V forward, STIADFRND is removed from the standard DHS questionnaire. However, some samples in these phases still included this response category. In these phases, STIADFRND follows the same format as in Phase III. However, the base universe in these phases was women who had a sexually transmitted infection in the 12 months prior to the interview, thus including women who indicated that they did not seek treatment. To increase comparability across phases, researchers may wish to exclude women who did not seek treatment, using the STIADVICE variable (with women who did not seek advice/treatment coded "0").

Universe