Does Birth Interval Matter in Under-Five Mortality? Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys from Eight Countries in West Africa

Effects of preceding birth intervals on neonatal, infant and under-five years mortality and nutritional status in developing countries: evidence from the demographic and health surveys.

OBJECTIVE This paper examines the association between birth intervals and infant and child mortality and nutritional status. METHODS Repeated analysis of retrospective survey data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program from 17 developing countries collected between 1990 and 1997 were used to examine these relationships. The key independent variable is the length of the precedin...

Are Africans Practicing Safer Sex: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys for Eight Countries

Education Policy and Under-Five Survival in Uganda: Evidence from the Demographic and Health Surveys

This study seeks to examine the influence of mothers’ schooling accomplishments on child mortality outcomes by exploiting the exogenous variability in schooling prompted by the 1997 universal primary education (UPE) policy in Uganda. The UPE policy, which eliminated school fees for all primary school children, provides an ideal setting for investigating the causal effect of the subsequent burst...

Adult mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys.

This article reports levels, trends, and age patterns of adult mortality in 23 sub-Saharan Africa countries, based on the sibling histories and orphanhood data collected by the countries' Demographic and Health Surveys. Adult mortality has risen sharply since HIV became prevalent, but the size and speed of the mortality increase varies greatly among countries. Excess mortality is concentrated a...

Does social capital determine health? Evidence from eight transition countries.

There is growing interest in the role of social relationships in explaining patterns of health. We contribute to this debate by investigating the impact of social capital on self-reported health for eight countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States. We rely on three indicators of social capital at the individual level (trust, participation in local organisations, social isolation) and...