SMART recommends entering mortality data at the individual level as it allows ENA to stratify rates by age and gender, along with their respective confidence intervals and design effects. Contrary, data entered at the household level is summary data and mortality rates cannot be stratified by age and gender. Also, entering data at the individual level allows ENA to generate demographic data such as age pyramids. When analyzing mortality data from surveys, it is beneficial to see whether rates are higher amongst specific populations (e.g., by age and gender), and this cannot be done as well if data is entered at the household level.
Another reason why it is recommended to enter mortality data at the individual level as opposed to the household level is because during the data collection phase the same SMART mortality survey questionnaire form is used; therefore, it takes the same amount of time to conduct the interview (whether or not the data is entered for household or individual level analysis). In summary, entering data at the household level as opposed to the individual level, is a missed opportunity to analyze important demographic information that the enumerators collected.
