South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 1998

South Africa, 1998

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Reference ID

zaf-doh-dhs-1998-v1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25828/6mbk-a889

Producer(s)

Department of Health, SA Medical Research Council

Collections

DHS Program

Metadata

DDI/XML JSON

Created on

May 22, 2013

Last modified

Aug 24, 2026

Page views

1304464

Downloads

4962

Identification

Survey ID number

zaf-doh-dhs-1998-v1

Title

South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 1998

Abbreviation or Acronym

SADHS 1998

Country

Name	Country code
South Africa	zaf

Study type

Demographic and Health Survey

Series Information

The South Africa Demographic and Health Survey series comprises nationally representative household surveys that collect demographic and health indicators for South Africa. The 1987 round was implemented by the Human Sciences Research Council. The 1998 survey was implemented by the Department of Health with the Medical Research Council and technical assistance from Macro International. The 2016 survey was implemented by Statistics South Africa with the South African Medical Research Council and technical assistance from ICF through The DHS Program. A 2003 survey was also conducted, but its data is not publicly available. Together, the documented rounds provide indicators on fertility, infant and childhood mortality, family planning, maternal and child health, adult health, and related topics.

Abstract

The aim of the 1998 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) was to collect data for the National Health Information System of South Africa (NHIS/SA). The survey results are intended to assist policymakers and programme managers in evaluating and designing programmes and strategies for improving health services in the country.

Kind of Data

Sample survey data

Unit of Analysis

- Household - Individual - Women of reproductive age / women aged 15 to 49 years - Adults aged 15 years and older (adult health modules)

Version

Version Description

v1: Edited, anonymised data for public distribution

Version Date

2013

Scope

Notes

The primary objective of the SADHS is to provide up-to-date information on:
• basic demographic rates, particularly fertility and childhood mortality levels,
• awareness and use of contraceptive methods,
• breastfeeding practices,
• maternal and child health,
• awareness of HIV/AIDS,
• chronic health conditions among adults,
• lifestyles that affect the health status of adults, and
• anthropometric indicators

Coverage

Geographic Coverage

The survey had national coverage.

Geographic Unit

The lowest level of geographic aggregation of the data is Province.

Universe

The 1998 South African Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) covered the population living in private households in the country. It is only representative of women in South Africa between the ages of 15 and 49. An adult health module was also administered to a sample of adults aged 15 and over in half of the households selected for the main survey.

Producers and sponsors

Primary investigators

Name	Affiliation
Department of Health	Government of South Africa
SA Medical Research Council	Government of South Africa

Producers

Name	Affiliation	Role
ICF (formerly Macro International)	The DHS Program	Technical assistance

Funding Agency/Sponsor

Name	Abbreviation	Role
United States Agency for International Development	USAID	Funder

Other Identifications/Acknowledgments

Name	Role
Health Systems Research	Coordination
Research Co-ordination and Epidemiology Directorate	Coordination
Centre for Health Systems Research and Development	Technical assistance in field work
University of the Orange Free State	Technical assistance in field work

Sampling

Sampling Procedure

Two-stage sample based on approximately 86,000 enumeration areas from the October 1996 census (Central Statistics / Statistics South Africa). Target of about 12,000 completed women's interviews age 15-49. Stratification by province, urban/non-urban residence, and EA type. Adult health module administered in half of selected households. Of 972 PSUs selected, fieldwork was not implemented in three PSUs for safety reasons and questionnaires for three PSUs were lost in transit; the data files cover 966 PSUs. About 12,860 households selected.

Response Rate

The results for the usual DHS schedule (women’s questionnaire) indicate that of 12,860 households selected in the survey, 95.2 percent were successfully interviewed. The main reasons for not successfully interviewing the households were refusals (1.8 percent), dwelling vacant (1 percent) and household absent (0.6 percent). The response rate at the household level was 97 percent. In these households there were 12,327 women aged 15-49, 95 percent of whom were successfully interviewed. The overall response rate for the women’s questionnaire is thus 92.3 percent

Survey instrument

Questionnaires

The survey collected data with three questionnaires: a Household Questionnaire, a Woman’s Questionnaire and an Adult Health Questionnaire. The Household and Woman's questionnaires were adapted from the DHS Model Questionnaires to meet the needs of South Africa's national and provincial Departments of Health. The Adult Health Questionnaire included questions to elicit data for reporting on the indicators of country progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Data collection

Dates of Data Collection

Start	End
1998-01	1998-09

Data Collection Mode

Face-to-face

Data Collectors

Name
University of the Orange Free State
Centre for Health Systems Research and Development

Data Collection Notes

Pilot studies in November 1996; fieldwork late January-September 1998 with about 175 interviewers trained to work in 11 languages across nine provinces. Intensive training covered adult anthropometry, blood pressure, and lung capacity measurement. Paper questionnaires processed at the Medical Research Council in Cape Town using ISSA, with 100 percent re-entry; processing mid-March to October 1998.

Data processing

Data Editing

All completed questionnaires for the SADHS were submitted to the provincial offices of King Finance (who were in partnership with the Centre for Health Systems Research at the University of the Free State), which then forwarded them to the MRC for data processing. The questionnaires were processed at the Medical Research Council offices in Cape Town. The processing operation consisted of office editing, coding of open-ended questions, initial data entry and subsequent re-entry of all questionnaires to ensure correct data-capture, and finally editing inconsistencies found by the computer program. The SADHS data entry and editing programs were written using ISSA (Integrated System for Survey Analysis) by staff from Macro International. A small proportion of the questionnaires were returned to the field to complete missing information. Data processing commenced in mid-March 1998 and was completed in October 1998.

Data appraisal

Estimates of Sampling Error

The computer software used to calculate sampling errors for the SADHS is the ISSA Sampling Error Module. This module used the Taylor linearisation method of variance estimation for survey estimates that are means or proportions. The Jackknife repeated replication method is used for variance estimation of more complex statistics such as fertility and mortality rates.

access_policy

Access authority

Name	Affiliation	URL	Email
DataFirst	University of Cape Town		support@data1st.org

Access conditions

Public access data for use under a Creative Commons CC-BY (Attribution-only) License

Citation requirements

Department of Health and Medical Research Council. Demographic and Health Survey 1998 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: DOH, MRC [producers], 2001. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/6mbk-a889

Metadata production

Producers

Name	Affiliation	Role
DataFirst	University of Cape Town	Metadata Producer

Metadata version

DDI Document version

Version 9

Version date

2026-08-24

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