Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 - Measure DHS

6.4 QUALITY OF THE ESTIMATES OF ADULT MORTALITYThere are three distinct sources of information in the AMS 2010 for estimating adult mortalitylevels: reporting of siblings’ survival by women eligible for the individual interview, reporting ofhousehold members who died by a household respondent, and reporting of the survival of parents ofcurrent household members by the household respondent. Each of these sources is subject tomisreporting. The quality of the information obtained by each type of source is examined and themortality estimates produced by the results are compared with one another and with external estimates forAfghanistan and for nearby countries.6.4.1 Sibling History ReportingA check on the quality of the reporting in the sibling history can be made by calculating the meansibship size and sex ratio at birth of siblings according to the date of birth of the respondent. It is expectedthat if fertility was high and constant in the past, the reported mean number of siblings would also be highand constant. The sex ratios at birth of the siblings should be in the normal range of 103 to 107 males per100 females, assuming no sex-selective abortions. The top panel of Table 6.7 indicates a rising meansibship size as the date of the respondent’s year of birth increases (decreasing age), indicating risingfertility in the past. The sex ratios at birth are in general too high, especially for the South zone, indictingan omission of female siblings. Both the mean sibship size and the sex ratios at birth are higher forrespondents born between 1986 and 1995 (1365 and 1374 in the Afghan calendar), that is, roughly 15-24years of age. This pattern indicates an omission of sisters among the younger respondents and anomission of both sexes of siblings among the older respondents.When mortality rates are high as is thought to be the case in the past for Afghanistan, much of themortality takes place among children, especially those of a very young age, and may be omitted byrespondents if these deaths occurred before the respondent was born or of an age to be told of the death.Consequently, to examine if this is the case for the AMS 2010, mean sibship size and sex ratio at birthwere calculated for siblings who survived to at least age 12 years, shown in the second panel of Table 6.7.After 12 years of age, the mean number of siblings decreases somewhat with decreasing age, indicatingthat indeed the deaths omitted were mostly when the siblings were children. The sex ratios at birthdecrease and then increase again but only approach the normal range for respondents outside the Southzone born between 1976 and 1985 (1355 and 1364 in the Afghan calendar), indicating that there is stillsome omission of women in the sibling history, especially in the South zone. For Afghanistan excludingthe South zone, the level of sex-selective omission is relatively minor.The third panel of Table 6.7 shows the non-survivors to age 12. The increase in number ofsiblings who did not reach age 12 among younger respondents indicates omission of deaths to children,true in all domains but especially in the South. The sex ratios of the South are too high, indicatingadditional omission of girls under age 12 who died.Adult Mortality | 115