Measuring Socioeconomic Differentials in Adolescent and Adult Mortality From Sibling Survival Data: A Test in Northern Malawi

Albert Dube , Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit
Sarah Brumfield, Johns Hopkins University
Georges Reniers, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Steffen Geis, Independent Researcher
Mia Crampin, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Stephane Helleringer, Johns Hopkins University

In developing countries, siblings’ survival histories (SSH) are often used to estimate maternal and adult mortality. However, they do not allow measuring socioeconomic differentials in mortality rates, because SSH do not elicit the characteristics of siblings beyond gender, age and vital status. In this project, we assess the feasibility of collecting information on socioeconomic correlates of adult mortality during SSH. We added questions about the educational level of a respondent’s siblings, as well as about their household wealth and residence. We are currently collecting such data among a sample of >400 respondents and close to 2,000 of their siblings in the area of the Karonga Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS) in Malawi. We will measure the reliability of these new data, by comparison to similar data collected prospectively by the KHDSS. We will multivariate models and simulations to assess whether these data may yield accurate estimates of mortality differentials.

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 Presented in Session 11. Health & Mortality 2