Age, as a variable, represents a critical basis for demographic classification; thus, its misrepresentations or misreporting alter the accuracy of demographic estimates. This paper examines the extent and pattern of age heaping in the age data for adults, collected in the Nigerian Demographic Health Survey (NDHS). The study used the NDHS data for 2003, 2008, and 2013 to compute a Whipple’s and Meyers’ blended index for each survey year, by gender, geopolitical zones, states and place of residence. The analysis shows that age heaping was higher than the acceptable levels in all three data sets. The Whipple’s index puts the rate of age heaping in the 2003 dataset at 271.3, whilst the rates declined slightly in the 2008 and 2013 datasets to reach 204.2 and 202.5 respectively. Similarly, the Myers’ blended index portrayed that age heaping in the 2003 data was highest at 47.0 while the subsequent years were lower at 38.60 and 38.66, respectively. Digits ending in 0 and 5 were mostly reported in all three surveys and higher rates of age heaping were observed among males, the uneducated and rural dwellers. Age heaping was prominent in all three surveys, thus affecting the data quality gathered at these surveys. Thus, future studies should assess the extent to which age misreporting could bias the estimate of fertility rate.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚成年人的年龄增长：来自 2003-2013 年尼日利亚人口与健康调查的证据

年龄作为一个变量，代表了人口统计分类的关键基础；因此，其虚假陈述或误报会改变人口统计估计的准确性。本文研究了在尼日利亚人口健康调查 (NDHS) 中收集的成人年龄数据中年龄堆积的程度和模式。该研究使用 2003 年、2008 年和 2013 年的 NDHS 数据，按性别、地缘政治区、州和居住地计算每个调查年度的 Whipple 和 Meyers 混合指数。分析表明，年龄堆积在所有三个数据集中都高于可接受的水平。惠普尔指数显示，2003 年数据集中的年龄堆积率为 271.3，而 2008 年和 2013 年数据集中的年龄堆积率略有下降，分别达到 204.2 和 202.5。相似地，Myers 混合指数显示，2003 年数据中的年龄堆积最高，为 47.0，而随后几年分别较低，为 38.60 和 38.66。所有三项调查都报告了以 0 和 5 结尾的数字，并且在男性、未受过教育和农村居民中观察到较高的年龄堆积率。年龄堆积在所有三项调查中都很突出，因此影响了在这些调查中收集的数据质量。因此，未来的研究应该评估年龄误报可能在多大程度上影响生育率的估计。从而影响在这些调查中收集的数据质量。因此，未来的研究应该评估年龄误报可能在多大程度上影响生育率的估计。从而影响在这些调查中收集的数据质量。因此，未来的研究应该评估年龄误报可能在多大程度上影响生育率的估计。