Definition
For female household members, HWFHTASDRM (HA5) reports the difference between the woman's height and the median height of a reference population of the same age and sex, expressed in units equal to one standard deviation of the reference population's distribution. An anthropometry measure expressed in reference standard deviation units is also known as a Z-score. HWFHTASDRM values are reported in units equal to 100 times the Z-score, to preserve two decimal places without requiring the use of a decimal point. Dividing HWFHTASDRM by 100 will yield the height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) value.
The reference standard contains data for children up to age 18. For all women age 18 and over, the value for 215 months (17 years, 11 months) is used, based on the assumption that women are fully grown by age 18.
HWFHEIGHT (HA3) reports the woman's height, as measured by DHS personnel.
The complementary DHS variable HWFHTAPCT (HA4) reports the woman's height-for-age percentile within the same reference population used in HWFHTASDRM. The complementary DHS variable HWFHTAPCTRM (HA6) reports the woman's height-for-age as a percentage of the median of the same reference population. Unlike z-scores, percentiles do not allow comparison across age and sex and cannot assess longitudinal change in growth status.
