Burden of Obstetric Fistulas in Zambia: Data and Code Supporting the Bayesian Modelling Analysis

This repository contains data, R code, and analytical outputs supporting the study “Burden of Obstetric Fistulas in Zambia: A Bayesian Modelling Approach.” The study estimated the national and subnational burden of obstetric fistula in Zambia using retrospective records of women who underwent obstetric fistula repair between 2018 and 2023 at nine fistula repair facilities serving women from all 116 districts of Zambia. District-level birth data were obtained from the Zambia Ministry of Health Health Management Information System (HMIS).District-level burden was estimated using Bayesian hierarchical modelling, with estimates expressed per 1,000 births and summarised at district, provincial, and national levels. The repository also contains R code used to generate descriptive sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics, annual numbers of fistula repairs by place of repair, and analysis of delays in accessing and receiving obstetric care. A delay was defined as ≥24 hours at home before seeking facility care, at a clinic/rural health centre/health post before referral, or at hospital before delivery.The repository contains the aggregated district-level analytical dataset, reproducible R code, analytical outputs, data underlying the descriptive tables and figures, and publication-quality figures. Patient-level medical record data are not publicly deposited because they contain potentially identifiable information and are subject to ethical and Zambia Ministry of Health data-sharing restrictions.Administrative boundary data used for spatial mapping were obtained from the publicly available GADM database and are therefore not redistributed in this repository.