Malawi 2015-16

and dead siblings reported by the respondents and the completeness of data on current age for living
siblings, age at death, and years since death for dead siblings.
A total of 126,271 siblings were recorded in the maternal mortality section of the 2015-16 MDHS. For 163
siblings (0.1%), survival status was not reported. Among surviving siblings, current age was not reported
for 1,282 siblings (1.2%); for 5% of dead siblings, age at the death and years since death were not reported.
Rather than excluding siblings with missing information on age and age at death or years since death from
further analysis, information on the birth order of siblings and other information was used to impute the
missing data.
15.2 DIRECT ESTIMATES OF ADULT MORTALITY
Adult mortality rate
The number of adult deaths per 1,000 population age 15-49. Adult mortality
rates by 5-year age groups are calculated as follows: the number of deaths to
respondent’s siblings in each age group is divided by the number of personyears
of exposure to the risk of dying in that age group during a specified
period before the survey. The number of deaths is the number of siblings
(brothers or sisters) reported as died within the specified period. The personyears
of exposure in each age group are calculated for both surviving and
dead siblings based on their current age (living siblings) or age at death and
years since death (dead siblings).
Sample: Siblings (both living and dead) who were age 15-49 in the specified
7-year period before the survey by sex and 5-year age groups
One way to assess the quality of the data used to
estimate maternal mortality is to evaluate the
plausibility and stability of overall adult mortality. If
the estimated rates of overall adult mortality are
implausible, rates based on a subset of deaths
(maternal deaths in particular) may have serious
problems.
Figure 15.1 Adult mortality rates by age
8
The reported ages at death and years since death of
6
the respondents’ brothers and sisters are used to
4
make direct estimates of adult mortality. Because of
the differentials in exposure to the risk of dying, age- 2
and sex-specific death rates are presented in this 0
report. Table 15.2 and Figure 15.1 show agespecific
mortality rates among women and men age 15-49 for the 7 years before the 2015-16 MDHS. To
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49
ensure a sufficiently large number of adult deaths to generate a robust estimate, the rates are calculated for
the 7-year period before the survey (roughly from late-2008 and early-2009 to late-2015 and early-2016).
Nevertheless, age specific mortality rates obtained in this manner are subject to considerable sampling
variation. Use of this 7-year period is a compromise between the desire for the most recent data and the
need to minimise the level of sampling error.
• Overall, adult mortality is slightly higher among men (5.5 deaths per 1,000 population) than among
women (4.8 deaths per 1,000 population).
• Mortality levels rise rapidly with age. Between the ages 20-29, mortality rates are higher for women
than for men. However, in the youngest age group between ages 15 and 19 and in the oldest age
groups (between ages 30 and 49), mortality rates are higher among men than among women.
16
14
12
10
Deaths per 1,000 population
Men
Women
246 • Adult and Maternal Mortality