# Improving the measurement of adolescent and adult mortality in low-income countries

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $470,080

## Abstract

With child mortality rapidly declining, an increasing proportion of all deaths in low and middle-income countries
(LMICs) will occur at adolescent and adult ages in the next decades. The forthcoming Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the United Nations reflect this shift: over the next 15 years (2015-2030),
several SDG targets will focus on reducing deaths from causes that affect primarily those age groups (e.g.,
maternal mortality, road traffic accidents, suicides). Investments in adolescent and adult health from US federal
institutions, international organizations and governments of LMICs are thus expected to increase significantly.
The mortality impact of such investments may however remain unknown because few LMICs have vital
registration systems that allow measuring mortality precisely. Despite current efforts to improve such systems,
household-based surveys (e.g., the Demographic and Health Surveys, DHS) will remain the primary data
source on adolescent an adult mortality in LMICs. These surveys entail asking a random sample of
respondents to report their siblings' survival history (SSH), i.e., whether each of their siblings 1) is alive, 2) how
old s/he is, and 3) if deceased, how old s/he was at the time of death and the time since death. SSH permit
directly estimating mortality rates at ages 15 and older, and also include basic assessments of the causes of
siblings' deaths. They are however still affected by pervasive reporting errors. For example, respondents may
omit some deaths, whereas other deaths may be added, or displaced in time. The net effects of these reporting
errors on mortality indicators are large and hard to predict, but existing analytical corrections are based on very
limited validation studies and do not capture this complexity. They risk accentuating bias and/or
misrepresenting uncertainty in mortality estimates. In this project, we propose to improve the accuracy of
survey-based estimates of adolescent and adult mortality through a) innovative data collection techniques
(e.g., event history calendars, recall cues) and b) integrated Bayesian methods that account for sampling and
non-sampling errors. Results from this study will help develop and target adolescent and adult health
interventions in low and middle-income countries, and evaluate the effectiveness of global health initiatives.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10245892
- **Project number:** 7R01HD088516-04
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephane Helleringer
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $470,080
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10245892

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10245892, Improving the measurement of adolescent and adult mortality in low-income countries (7R01HD088516-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10245892. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*