Adolescent Fertility Is Lower than Expected in Rural Areas: Results from 10 African HDSS

Clémentine Rossier (1) , Bruno Schoumaker (2) , Valérie Delaunay (3) , Donatien Beguy (4) , Aparna Jain (5) , Martin Bangha (6) , Alemseged Aregay (7) , Baptiste Beck (8) , Karim Derra (9) , Modeste Millogo (10) , Albert Nkhata Dube (11) , Kone Siaka (12) , Marylene Wamukoya (4) , Pascal Zabre (13)

1 UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva
2 UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain
3 LPED - Laboratoire Population-Environnement-Développement
4 APHRC Campus - African Population and Health Research Center, Inc
5 Population Council
6 INDEPTH Network - International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health
7 University of Gondar
8 IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
9 DRO, IRSS, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
10 UJZK - Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo [Ouagadougou]
11 Karonga Prevention Study
12 CSRS - Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques
13 CRSN - Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna

The adolescent birth rate (ABR) is an important indicator of maternal health, adolescent sexual health, and gender equity; it remains high in sub-Saharan Africa. While Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) are the main source of ABR estimates, Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) also produce ABRs. Studies are lacking, however, to assess the ease of access and accuracy of HDSS ABR measures. In this paper, we use birth and exposure data from  HDSS in six African countries to compute local ABRs and compare these rates to DHS regional rates where the HDSS sites are located, standardizing by education and place of residence. In rural HDSS sites, the ABR measure is on average  percent lower than the DHS measure, after controlling for education and place of residence. Strong temporary migration of childless young women out of rural areas and different capacities in capturing temporarily absent women in the DHS and HDSS could explain this discrepancy. Further comparisons based on more strictly similar populations and measures seem warranted.

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Demography

Clémentine Rossier, Bruno Schoumaker, Valérie Delaunay, Donatien Beguy, Aparna Jain, et al.. Adolescent Fertility Is Lower than Expected in Rural Areas: Results from 10 African HDSS. Studies in Family Planning, 2020, 51 (2), pp.177-192. ⟨10.1111/sifp.12116⟩. ⟨hal-02975408⟩