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Application of Current-Status Survival Analysis Methodology to Estimation of Age at First Sex: Uganda
Authors: Leonard K. Atuhaire
Source: African Statistical Journal, Volume 12, pages 141-150, May 2011
Topic(s): First intercourse
Country: Africa
  Uganda
Published: MAY 2011
Abstract: ABSTRACT Computing quantiles of age at first sex using only recalled age at first sex can be problematic when (i) misreporting of age at first sex is substantial, and (ii) a considerable number of respondents have not become sexually active by the time of data collection. Life Table and related Survival Analysis methods that use age at the time of a survey as the censoring time for those who had not had sex by the time of the survey solves the second problem, but can give misleading results if misreporting of age at first sex exists. Methods that use only current age and current virginity status (assuming these are correctly reported) would thus be preferred. The application of such methods is investigated using data from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS). Results show that such methods are applicable, and in the case of the UDHS, the log-logistic distribu­tion provides a good fit from which quantiles of age at first sex can be derived. From the fitted model, the median age at first sex is estimated as 18.33 years for males, and 17.88 years for females for the cohort aged 15-24 in 2006. Key words: Survival Analysis, Accelerated Time Models, Age at First Sex, Demographic and Health Survey.