Accumulating Contraceptive Calendars across Surveys

181. The study examines the consistency of data collected in the contraceptive calendar by comparing monthly contraceptive use across different surveys in overlapping calendars. The study focuses on four countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Peru, and Senegal. In Bangladesh, the results showed some differences in the contraceptive prevalence rate based on the overlapping calendars from two consecutive surveys. In Egypt, similar differences were observed, particularly in the estimates of injectables and IUD usage. In contrast, the Peru and Senegal DHS showed more consistent contraceptive prevalence rate estimates between the two sources of data. The study also examined the accumulation of calendar data across surveys of Peru and Senegal, where consistent contraceptive prevalence rate estimates were observed. The accumulated data had more narrow confidence intervals when compared to the trends in the separate datasets. However, the application on calendar data did not show promising potential similar to the application on birth histories as found in a previous DHS Working Paper. The study's findings have implications for the use of contraceptive calendars in DHS surveys. The results suggest that while the accumulation technique can be useful for reducing fluctuations in time series and establishing more stable and reliable trends, its application on calendar data may not be as effective as previously thought. Further research is needed to explore the potential of accumulating calendar data and to identify the factors that contribute to the differences in contraceptive prevalence rate estimates between surveys. The study's methodology involved comparing monthly contraceptive use across different surveys in overlapping calendars. The results were analyzed using statistical techniques to examine the consistency of the data and the potential for accumulating calendar data. The study's findings are based on an analysis of data from four DHS surveys, and the results are presented in a series of tables and figures. The study's conclusions highlight the importance of considering the consistency of data collected in contraceptive calendars when analyzing DHS survey data. The results suggest that while the accumulation technique can be useful for reducing fluctuations in time series, its application on calendar data may not be as effective as previously thought. Further research is needed to explore the potential of accumulating calendar data and to identify the factors that contribute to the differences in contraceptive prevalence rate estimates between surveys.