Demographic and Health Survey 2023
Tajikistan, 2023
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TJK_2023_DHS_v01_M
Demographic and Health Survey 2023
DHS/ TjDHS 2023
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Tajikistan | TJK |
Demographic and Health Survey [hh/dhs]
The 2023 Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey (2023 TjDHS) is the third DHS survey implemented in Tajikistan, following the 2012 and 2017 surveys.
The 2023 Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey (TjDHS) is the third Demographic and Health Survey conducted in Tajikistan. The primary objective of the 2023 TjDHS is to provide up-to-date estimates of basic demographic and health indicators. Specifically, the survey collected information on fertility and contraceptive use, maternal and child health and nutrition, childhood mortality, domestic violence against women, child discipline, awareness and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other health-related issues such as smoking.
The information collected through the 2023 TjDHS is intended to assist policymakers and program managers in designing and evaluating programs and strategies for improving the health of the country’s population. The survey also provides indicators relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Tajikistan.
Sample survey data [ssd]
- Household
- Individual
- Children age 0-5
- Woman age 15-49
Version
The data dictionary was generated from hierarchical data that was downloaded from the The DHS Program website (http://dhsprogram.com).
- Contract Phase: DHS-VIII
- Recode Structure: DHS-VIII
Scope
The 2023 Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey covered the following topics:
HOUSEHOLD
- Identification
- Usual members and visitors in the selected households
- Background information on each person listed, such as relationship to head of the household, age, sex, marital status, survivorship and residence of biological parents, educational attainment, and birth registration
- Child discipline
- Domestic violence
- Characteristics of the household's dwelling unit, such as the source of water for drinking and other purposes such as cleaning and handwashing, water source location and how long it takes to get water, type of toilet facilities and where it is located, type of fuel used for cooking, main source of light for the home, type of fuel or energy used for heating the home, number of rooms, ownership of livestock, possessions of durable goods, and main material for the floor, roof and walls of the dwelling.
WOMAN
- Identification
- Background characteristics (including age, education, and access to media)
- Reproduction (including pregnancy history and number of children)
- Contraception
- Pregnancy and postnatal care, child immunization, and health and nutrition
- Marriage and sexual activity
- Fertility preferences
- Husbands’ background characteristics and women’s work
- HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections
- Other health issues (including alcohol consumption and smoking)
- Domestic violence
- Calendar (a 5-year calendar of reproductive events)
BIOMARKER
- Identification
- Weight, height, and hemoglobin measurement for children age 0-4
- Weight, height, and hemoglobin measurement for women age 15-49
- Weight, height, and hemoglobin measurement for men age 15-59
FIELDWORKER
- Background information on each fieldworkers
Coverage
National coverage
The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49, and all children aged 0-4 resident in the household.
Producers and sponsors
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan (Tajstat) | Government of Tajikistan |
| Name | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| ICF | The DHS Program | Provided technical assistance through The DHS Program |
| Name | Abbreviation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Government of Tajikistan | Govt. TJK | Funded the study |
| United States Agency for International Development | USAID | Funded the study |
| United Nations Population Fund | UNFPA | Funded the study |
| United Nations Children's Fund | UNICEF | Funded the study |
Sampling
The sampling frame used for the 2023 TjDHS is the 2020 Tajikistan Population and Housing Census (TPHC), conducted by Tajstat. Administratively, Tajikistan is divided into five administrative regions: Dushanbe City, Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS), Sughd, Khatlon, and Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). Each region is subdivided into urban and rural areas. The country is divided into 68 cities and rayons (districts) distributed over the country’s regions. Each city or rayon (district) is further divided into census divisions, which are subdivided into instruction areas. Each instruction area is divided into enumeration areas (EAs).
The 2023 TjDHS followed a stratified two-stage sample design. The first stage involved selecting sample points (clusters) consisting of EAs. EAs were drawn with a probability proportional to their size within each sampling stratum. A total of 370 clusters were selected, 166 in urban areas and 204 in rural areas. The second stage involved systematic sampling of households. A household listing operation was undertaken in all of the selected clusters, and a fixed number of 22 households per cluster were selected through an equal probability systematic selection process, for a total sample size of approximately 8,140 households.
All women age 15-49 who were either permanent residents of the selected households or visitors who stayed in the households the night before the survey were eligible to be interviewed. Hemoglobin testing was performed in each household among eligible women age 15-49 who consented to being tested. With the parent’s or guardian’s consent, children age 6-59 months were also tested for anemia in each household. Height and weight information was collected from eligible women age 15-49 and children age 0-59 months in all households. Also, one eligible woman in each household was randomly selected to be asked additional questions about domestic violence.
For further details on sample design, see APPENDIX A of the final report.
A total of 8,140 households were selected for the TjDHS sample, of which 8,070 were found to be occupied. Of the occupied households, 8,035 were successfully interviewed, yielding a response rate of over 99%. In the interviewed households, 9,930 women age 15-49 were identified as eligible for individual interviews. Interviews were completed with 9,879 women, yielding a response rate of over 99%.
A spreadsheet containing all sampling parameters and selection probabilities was prepared to help calculate the design weights. Design weights were adjusted for household nonresponse and individual nonresponse to obtain the sampling weights for households and for women. Nonresponse was adjusted at the sampling stratum level. For household sampling weights, household design weights were multiplied by the inverse of household response rates according to stratum. For women’s individual sampling weights, household sampling weights were multiplied by the inverse of women’s individual response rates according to stratum. After adjustment for nonresponse, the sampling weights were normalized (by multiplying the sampling weight by the estimated total sampling fraction obtained from the survey for the household weight and the woman’s weight) to obtain the final standard weights that appear in the data files. The normalization process was done so that the total number of unweighted cases was equal to the total number of weighted cases at the national level for both households and women. The normalized weights are relative weights that are valid for estimating means, proportions, ratios, and rates but are not valid for estimations based on pooled data or for estimating population totals.
For further details on sample weights, see APPENDIX A.4 of the final report.
Survey instrument
Three questionnaires were used in the 2023 TjDHS: the Household Questionnaire, the Woman’s Questionnaire, and the Biomarker Questionnaire. The questionnaires, based on The DHS Program’s model questionnaires, were adapted to reflect the population and health issues relevant to Tajikistan. Suggestions were solicited from various stakeholders representing government ministries and agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and international donors. After all questionnaires were finalized in English, they were translated into Russian and Tajik.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2023-08-10 | 2023-11-28 |
- Face-to-face computer-assisted interviews [capi]
| Name | Affiliation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan | Government of Tajikistan | Tajstat |
Data collection was carried out by 15 field teams, each consisting of one female team supervisor, four female interviewers, and two health investigators (at least one of whom was female and at least one of whom was standardized for anthropometry). Fieldwork started in most regions on August 10, 2023, and ended on November 28, 2023.
Fieldwork monitoring was an integral part of the 2023 TjDHS. Senior TjDHS technical staff from Tajstat, along with three DHS quality control field monitors, three biomarker quality control field monitors, five field coordinators, and four CAPI coordinators, visited teams regularly to review work and monitor data quality. Also, representatives from The DHS Program visited teams to monitor data collection and to observe anemia testing and height and weight measurements of women and children under age 5. During field visits, staff provided teams (supervisor, interviewers, and health investigators) with critical feedback to improve their performance. In addition, they used TjDHS field-check tables based on data from completed clusters to illustrate problems specific to each team visited. Field-check tables based on the completed questionnaires entered during fieldwork were generated in real time as fieldwork progressed and were available online via the SyncCloud platform. The tables were reviewed and discussed with the Tajstat staff on an ongoing basis to alert field teams to data quality issues found during the survey fieldwork and to ensure that quality data collection was maintained throughout the fieldwork.
Data processing
The 2023 TjDHS used a Windows-based system. All electronic data files were transferred via a secure SyncCloud server to the Tajstat central office in Dushanbe, where they were stored on a password-protected computer. The data processing operation included secondary editing, which required resolution of computer-identified inconsistencies and coding of open-ended questions. The data were processed by five IT specialists/secondary editors who took part in the main fieldwork training, the training of trainers, and a refresher secondary editing training session; they were supervised remotely by staff from The DHS Program. Data editing was accomplished using CSPro software. Secondary editing and data processing were initiated in December 2023 and completed in February 2024.
Data appraisal
The estimates from a sample survey are affected by two types of errors: non-sampling errors and sampling errors. Non-sampling errors are the results of mistakes made in implementing data collection and data processing, such as failure to locate and interview the correct household, misunderstanding of the questions on the part of either the interviewer or the respondent, and data entry errors. Although numerous efforts were made during the implementation of the 2023 Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey (2023 TjDHS) to minimize this type of error, non-sampling errors are impossible to avoid and difficult to evaluate statistically.
Sampling errors, on the other hand, can be evaluated statistically. The sample of respondents selected in the 2023 TjDHS is only one of many samples that could have been selected from the same population, using the same design and sample size. Each of these samples would yield results that differ somewhat from the results of the actual sample selected. Sampling errors are a measure of the variability among all possible samples. Although the degree of variability is not known exactly, it can be estimated from the survey results.
Sampling error is usually measured in terms of the standard error for a particular statistic (mean, percentage, etc.), which is the square root of the variance. The standard error can be used to calculate confidence intervals within which the true value for the population can reasonably be assumed to fall. For example, for any given statistic calculated from a sample survey, the value of that statistic will fall within a range of plus or minus two times the standard error of that statistic in 95% of all possible samples of identical size and design.
If the sample of respondents had been selected by simple random sampling, it would have been possible to use straightforward formulas for calculating sampling errors. However, the 2023 TjDHS sample was the result of a multistage stratified cluster design, and, consequently, it was necessary to use more complex formulas. Sampling errors are computed in SAS programs developed by ICF. These programs use the Taylor linearization method to estimate variances for survey estimates that are means, proportions, or ratios. The Jackknife repeated replication method is used for variance estimation of more complex statistics such as fertility and mortality rates.
A more detailed description of estimates of sampling errors are presented in APPENDIX B of the survey report.
Data Quality Tables
- Household age distribution
- Age distribution of eligible and interviewed women
- Age displacement at age 14/15
- Age displacement at age 49/50
- Pregnancy outcomes by years preceding the survey
- Completeness of reporting
- Standardization exercise results from anthropometry training
- Height and weight data completeness and quality for children
- Height measurements from random subsample of measured children
- Interference in height and weight measurements of children
- Interference in height and weight measurements of women
- Heaping in anthropometric measurements for children (digit preference)
- Observation of handwashing facility
- School attendance by single year of age
- Vaccination cards photographed
- Prevalence of anemia in children based on 2011 WHO guidelines
- Prevalence of anemia in women based on 2011 WHO guidelines
- Population pyramid
- Five-year mortality rates
See details of the data quality tables in Appendix C of the final report.
Access policy
The DHS Program
Data Access
| Name | URL |
|---|---|
| The DHS Program | https://dhsprogram.com |
Request Dataset Access
The following applies to DHS, MIS, AIS and SPA survey datasets (Surveys, GPS, and HIV).
To request dataset access, you must first be a registered user of the website. You must then create a new research project request. The request must include a project title and a description of the analysis you propose to perform with the data.
The requested data should only be used for the purpose of the research or study. To request the same or different data for another purpose, a new research project request should be submitted. The DHS Program will normally review all data requests within 24 hours (Monday - Friday) and provide notification if access has been granted or additional project information is needed before access can be granted.
DATASET ACCESS APPROVAL PROCESS
Access to DHS, MIS, AIS and SPA survey datasets (Surveys, HIV, and GPS) is requested and granted by country. This means that when approved, full access is granted to all unrestricted survey datasets for that country. Access to HIV and GIS datasets requires an online acknowledgment of the conditions of use.
Required Information
A dataset request must include contact information, a research project title, and a description of the analysis you propose to perform with the data.
Restricted Datasets
A few datasets are restricted and these are noted. Access to restricted datasets is requested online as with other datasets. An additional consent form is required for some datasets, and the form will be emailed to you upon authorization of your account. For other restricted surveys, permission must be granted by the appropriate implementing organizations, before The DHS Program can grant access. You will be emailed the information for contacting the implementing organizations. A few restricted surveys are authorized directly within The DHS Program, upon receipt of an email request.
When The DHS Program receives authorization from the appropriate organizations, the user will be contacted, and the datasets made available by secure FTP.
GPS/HIV Datasets/Other Biomarkers
Because of the sensitive nature of GPS, HIV and other biomarkers datasets, permission to access these datasets requires that you accept a Terms of Use Statement. After selecting GPS/HIV/Other Biomarkers datasets, the user is presented with a consent form which should be signed electronically by entering the password for the user's account.
Dataset Terms of Use
Once downloaded, the datasets must not be passed on to other researchers without the written consent of The DHS Program. All reports and publications based on the requested data must be sent to The DHS Program Data Archive in a Portable Document Format (pdf) or a printed hard copy.
Download Datasets
Datasets are made available for download by survey. You will be presented with a list of surveys for which you have been granted dataset access. After selecting a survey, a list of all available datasets for that survey will be displayed, including all survey, GPS, and HIV data files. However, only data types for which you have been granted access will be accessible. To download, simply click on the files that you wish to download and a "File Download" prompt will guide you through the remaining steps.
Recommended citations are available at https://www.dhsprogram.com/publications/Recommended-Citations.cfm
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information about The DHS Program | The DHS Program | reports@DHSprogram.com | https://www.dhsprogram.com/Who-We-Are/Contact-Us.cfm |
| General Inquiries | The DHS Program | info@dhsprogram.com | https://www.dhsprogram.com/Who-We-Are/Contact-Us.cfm |
| Data and Data Related Resources | The DHS Program | archive@dhsprogram.com | https://www.dhsprogram.com/Who-We-Are/Contact-Us.cfm |
Metadata production
DDI_TJK_2023_DHS_v01_M
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | DECDG | World Bank Group | Documentation of the survey |
2025-08-25T04:00:00.000Z
Metadata version
Version 01 (August 2025). Metadata in this DDI is excerpted from "Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey 2023" report.
2025-08-25T04:00:00.000Z