Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-11T13:26:35.673Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reliability study of reporting of days since last sexual intercourse in Matlab, Bangladesh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Stan Becker  and
Suraiya Begum
Stan Becker
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Suraiya Begum
Affiliation:
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The accuracy of responses to a question on the frequency of sexual intercourse in the 4-week period prior to an interview is expected to be low. This paper examines the reliability of an alternative question: ‘How many days since you last had sexual intercourse?’. This was a part of a larger longitudinal study of fertility dynamics in Matlab, Bangladesh. The response pairs of 61 women who were asked the same question by an interviewer and on the next day by a supervisor, were analysed. Refusals were more common among older women and among women who gave a response at the extremes of the distribution for the other interview. Of the pairs of two responses, 78% had a difference of 3 days or less. Further study and use of the question on days since last intercourse is recommended.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 291 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barrett, J. C. (1971) Fecundability and coital frequency. Popul. Stud. 25, 309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, S. (1984) Les variations saisonniéres des naissances au Bangladesh rural. Population, 2, 265.Google Scholar
Becker, S., Chowdhury, A. K. M. A. & Leridon, H. (1986) Seasonal patterns of reproduction in Matlab, Bangladesh. Popul. Stud. 40, 457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanc, A. K. & Rutenberg, N. (1991) Coitus and contraception: the utility of DHS data on sexual behavior for family planning programs. Stud. Fam. Plann. 22, 162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bongaarts, J. & Potter, R. G. (1983) Fertility, Biology and Behavior: An Analysis of the Proximate Determinants, pp. 103–126. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chowdhury, A. K. M. A. & Becker, S. (1981) Determinants of Natural Fertility: Methods and Descriptive Tables for the Prospective Study 1975–78. Scientific Report No. 48. ICDDR, Dhaka, Bangladesh.Google Scholar
Clark, A. L. & Wallin, P. (1964) The accuracy of husbands' and wives' reports of the frequency of marital coitus. Popul. Stud. 18, 165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demographic & Health Survey (1990) Model ‘A’ Questionnaire with Commentary for High Contraceptive Prevalence Countries.DHS-II Basic Documentation No. 1. IRD/Macro International, Columbia, Maryland.Google Scholar
Goldman, N., Moreno, L. & Westoff, C. F. (1989) Peru Experimental Study: An Evaluation of Fertility and Child Health Information. Institute for Resource Development/Macro Systems, Columbia, Maryland.Google Scholar
Rutenberg, N. (1993) The Estimation of Fecundability from Survey Data on Coital Frequency. PhD thesis, Sociology Department, Princeton University, USA.Google Scholar
Rutenberg, N. & Blanc, A. K. (1991) The analytic potential of DHS data on coital frequency and its implications for the estimation of failure rates. In: Measuring the Dynamics of Contraceptive Use, pp. 153–165. Proceedings of the United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Measuring the Dynamics of Contraceptive Use, December 1988. UN, New York.Google Scholar
Ruzicka, L. T. & Bhatia, S. (1982) Coital frequency and sexual abstinence in rural Bangladesh. J. biosoc. Sci. 14, 397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schellstede, W. P. & Ciszewski, R. L. (1984) Social marketing of contraceptives in Bangladesh. Stud. Fam. Plann. 15, 30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheps, M. C. & Menken, J. A. (1973) Mathematical Models of Conception and Birth. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Udry, J. R. & Morris, N. M. (1967) A method for validation of reported sexual data. J. Marr. Fam. 29, 442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United, Nations (1979) Manual IX: The Methodology of Measuring the Impact of Family Planning Programs on Fertility. Population Studies No. 66. UN, New York.Google Scholar