Description

ATPUBLAB indicates whether, in response to an open-ended question, the woman reported a public laboratory as a place to be tested for the AIDS virus.

Some samples in the "AT" series include categories that can be consolidated into a single response. IPUMS-DHS uses supplemental programming to combine these responses in a standard variable while preserving the separate responses in country-specific variables.

For example, a given sample might include multiple categories for different types of public laboratories that could be combined in ATPUBLAB to create a more comprehensive response category. See Comparability for more information on the specific categories combined in this variable.

Comparability — Index

Comparability

ATPUBLAB varies slightly in question wording. Most commonly, this response category is organized under the "Public Sector" header and is worded as "public laboratory." Some countries diverge from this standard convention, and, in some cases, multiple categories were consolidated to form a single, more comprehensive response. Countries of particular interest are noted below.

Universes in ATPUBLAB vary across samples. Most commonly, this variable included women who have heard of HIV/AIDS and have never been tested for HIV/AIDS. Other samples diverge from this standard, and in these cases, researchers may wish to exclude women who have not heard of HIV/AIDS (using AIDSHEARD) and who have been tested for HIV/AIDS (using AIDTESTEV).

Comparability - Standard DHS

An open-ended question about where one can get tested for the AIDS virus is included in Phase V forward of the standard DHS questionnaire. Responses are country-specific.

Universe