Contextual Data in IPUMS DHS: Physical and Social Environment Variables linked to the Demographic and Health Surveys.

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) are the most important source of comparative information on the health of women and young children in low- and middle-income countries and are well-suited for studies of the relationship between environmental factors and health. However, barriers have limited the use of the DHS for these purposes. IPUMS DHS, an online data dissemination tool, overcomes these barriers, simplifying comparative analyses with DHS. IPUMS DHS recently incorporated environmental variables that can easily be attached to individual or household records, facilitating the use of DHS data for the study of population and environment issues. We provide a brief introduction to IPUMS DHS, describe the current and anticipated environmental variables and how to use them, and provide an example of the novel research possibilities facilitated by this latest IPUMS DHS development. IPUMS-DHS is available free online at dhs.ipums.org.