Sample selection bias in adult mortality estimates from mobile phone surveys

BACKGROUNDMobile phone surveys are gaining traction in low-and middle-income countries, but mobile phone ownership (MPO) is not universal, potentially introducing sample selection bias in ensuing estimates. OBJECTIVETo evaluate MPO-associated sample selection bias in adult mortality estimates from sibling survival histories (SSH) administered to women of reproductive age. METHODSUsing data from 25 Demographic and Health Surveys, we (1) used logistic regression to assess the association between MPO and sociodemographic background characteristics;(2) used SSH to compare the probability of dying in adulthood (45q15) in a general population sample of women of reproductive age and a subsample of women who own a mobile phone, (3) and evaluated the use of post-stratification weighting to correct bias in adult mortality estimates derived from the subsample of mobile phone owners. RESULTSMPO correlated with sociodemographic characteristics in a predictable fashion.Summary indices of adult mortality (45q15) using data on siblings from respondents who owned a mobile phone aligned with the general population estimate in 20 out of 25 countries.Significant bias was identified in Papua New Guinea, Burundi, Rwanda, Haiti, and Zimbabwe, with the estimate being typically lower when based on reports of mobile phone owners.Where it existed, bias was most pronounced at either end of the age

Demographic economics · Developing country · Econometrics · Economic growth · Economics · Low and middle income countries · Mobile phone · Phone · Selection bias · Sociology · Statistics · Telecommunications · Computer Science · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Data-Driven Disease Surveillance · Demography · Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis

• Measuring adult mortality from mobile phone surveys in Burkina Faso, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

  Open Access•Kassoum Dianou, Bruno Masquelier et al.•BMJ Global Health•2025

  Incluir item

• Estimates of Under-Five Mortality From a Mobile Phone Survey During the Covid-19 Outbreak

  Open Access•Julio Romero-Prieto, Julio E Romero-Prieto et al.•Demography•2026

  Incluir item

• Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

  Open Access•Austin E Schumacher, Hmwe Hmwe Kyu et al.•The Lancet•2024

  Incluir item

• A global assessment of civil registration and vital statistics systems

  Open Access•Line Mikkelsen, Lene Mikkelsen et al.•The Lancet•2015

  Incluir item

• Adult mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

  Open Access•Ian M Timaeus, Momodou Jasseh•Demography•2004

  Incluir item

• Errors in reported ages and dates in surveys of adult mortality

  Bruno Masquelier, Mufaro Kanyangarara et al.•Population Studies•2021

  Incluir item

• Increased Age Heaping in Mobile Phone Surveys Conducted in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries

  Open Access•Helleringer, Samantha W Lau et al.•Socius Sociological Research for…•2023

  Incluir item