This is the DHS-8 version of the guide which updates the indicator definitions to reflect the changes and additions made to the indicators as part of DHS-8. There are several major changes reflected in this version of the guide, which include:
· Additional indicators and updates to existing indicators to reflect the use of a pregnancy history, rather than a birth history, including:
o Changes to the denominators for reproductive health indicators in Chapter 9) Reproductive Health, to present indicators for live births and stillbirths, rather than just for live births as in earlier rounds of DHS.
o Inclusion of indicators such as the stillbirth rate in Chapter 8) Infant and Child Mortality
· Updating of indicators for Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) based on updated guidance from WHO/UNICEF.
· Separating the water and sanitation indicators from Chapter 2) Population and Housing and placing them in their own chapter: Chapter 16) Water and Sanitation.
There are also many smaller changes to indicators throughout the guide, to fully describe the additions and changes made to indicators throughout the DHS-8 tabulation plans.
The prior version of the guide was the second version of the DHS-7 guide and it had the following major additions or revisions to the original DHS-7 Guide to DHS Statistics:
· Chapter 19) Female Genital Cutting (FGC) was added to this version and reflects the standard indicators that would be created if the FGC module was included in the DHS survey.
· Chapter 20) Fistula was added and reflects the standard indicators that would be created if the Fistula module was included in the DHS survey.
· WASH indicators (now in Chapter 16) Water and Sanitation, but previously in Chapter 2) Population and Housing) were updated to reflect the changes and additional indicators in current global guidelines.
· Indicators that reflect meal frequency and dietary diversity in Chapter 11) Nutrition were updated.
Other minor revisions throughout may have been made to improve the accuracy, usefulness, and overall appearance of the guide. Any indicator that had key information altered or improved is marked as updated.