IPUMS-DHS Contextual Variables

Contextual variables overview

Contextual variables describe features of the physical and social environment of a small geographic area (5-10 kilometer radius) surrounding the location where a DHS respondent was interviewed. Contextual variables simplify analyzing how physical and social contexts shape the health and behavior of individuals.

Contextual variables download

IPUMS-DHS contextual variables can be requested and downloaded along with a users data extract (DHS registration required) or as flat .csv data files. The DHSID in the .csv files links the contextual variable to the DHS data.

Summary of all contextual variables

A comprehensive table that lists all the contextual variables in IPUMS-DHS and provides summary information about each variable.