Definition
For second- and higher-order births, BINT4YR (B14) indicates whether the time interval between that birth and the preceding birth was four or more years. The survey form included the question, "Were there any other live births between (NAME OF PREVIOUS BIRTH) and (NAME), including any children who died?" and left room to record the month and year of each birth.
The DHS Recode Manual for Phase III describes how the calculation of the birth interval reported in this variable was done:
This calculation is performed by the interviewer, purely in terms of years, ignoring the month of birth of each of the children. For example, a birth in April 1988 would be categorized as being four or more years after a birth in October 1984, even though there is actually less than four years between the births.
The DHS Recode Manuals for Phases III and IV add the following note explaining the rationale for BINT4YR (B14):
Variables B14 and B15 are questions used in the interview to try and ascertain if the respondent had omitted any live births while reporting her birth history. The birth history may have been modified during the interviewing process, and the responses may not now correspond to the interval between the birth and the preceding birth recorded in this section. The data have been included to help indicate cases where the respondent may have omitted live births while originally reporting the birth history. The omitted births should be included in this final version of the birth history.
The related variables BIRTHINTPREMO (B11) and BIRTHINTPOSTMO (B12) report the finalized numbers, in months, for the length of the birth intervals preceding and following a birth, respectively.
