Comparison of Efficiency in Generalized Poisson Regression Model and the Standard Poisson Regression Model in analyzing Fertility Behavior among Women, Kashan, 2012

Different statistical methods can be used to analyze fertility data. When the response variable is discrete, Poisson model is applied. If the condition does not hold for the Poisson model, its generalized model will be applied. The goal of this study was to compare the efficiency of generalized Poisson regression model with the standard Poisson regression model in estimating the coefficient of effective factors onthe current number of children.
This is a cross-sectional study carried out on a populationof married women within the age range of15-49 years in Kashan, Iran. The cluster sampling method was used for data collection. Clusters consisted ofthe urbanblocksdeterminedby the municipality.Atotal number of10clusters each containing30households was selected according to the health center's framework. The necessary data were then collected through a self-madequestionnaireanddirectinterviewswith women under study. Further, the data analysiswas performed by usingthe standard and generalizedPoisson regression models through theRsoftware.
The average number of children for each woman was 1.45 with a variance of 1.073.A significant relationship was observed between the husband's age, number of unwanted pregnancies, and the average durationof breastfeeding with the present number of children in the two standard and generalized Poisson regression models (p According to the achieved results, the generalized Poisson regression model is more suitable for data analysis and can estimate the coefficient of effective factors on the number of children more precisely.