ORCID Profile
0000-0003-4294-6323
Current Organisations
NSW Health
,
Swinburne University of Technology
,
University of Sydney
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Publisher: Maad Rayan Publishing Company
Date: 08-02-2022
Abstract: Background: Asian and pacific region countries are high risk countries for human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is low in Bangladesh but women in Bangladesh have been identified as susceptible due to associated socioeconomic exposures. There are various misconceptions associated with HIV/AIDS transmission among the women in low- and middle-income countries including Bangladesh, which lead to a negative attitude towards the HIV/AIDS-infected. The purpose of this study was to assess the overall knowledge, transmission, and misconception about HIV/AIDS among the women in Bangladesh as well as its spatial distribution across the country. Methods: The study used data from the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019, with a s le of 64 346 women. This was a cross-sectional, population-based survey of Bangladeshi women aged 15–49 conducted using a multistage, cluster s ling technique. Three binary outcome variables considered were knowledge about HIV/AIDS, knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and knowledge on myths and misconceptions on HIV/AIDS along with 10 predictors based on past literature. Bivariable analysis using chi-square tests of association was conducted to examine the unadjusted percentage differences of the outcome variables for each of the predictor variables and their associations. Multiple binary logistic regression models were then fitted to evaluate the association between the outcome variables and the predictors after adjusting for survey cluster, strata, and weights. All analysis was conducted in R software (V 2.5.0). Results: The percentage of women who held knowledge about HIV/AIDS, knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and knowledge on misconceptions about transmission of HIV were on average 60.3%, 52.2% and 71.7% respectively. The models indicated that women regularly exposed to media were 79%, 18% and 19% significantly more likely (odds ratio, OR: [95% CI] = 1.79: [1.70, 1.89] 1.18: [1.10 1.26] and 1.19: [1.11, 1.27]) to have heard about HIV, aware about HIV transmission, and have less misconceptions about HIV respectively compared to those who were not exposed to media. Overall results indicate that women from peripheral districts living far from metropolitan cities were most unaware of HIV and had higher misconceptions about AIDS. Conclusion: The findings of this study should assist policy-makers and program implementers to focus on raising awareness to educating women about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted. Furthermore, interventions should be made by targeting the most disadvantaged groups, including younger women with low education living in rural areas, from poor households and limited access to information. Also, education on HIV transmission in Bangladesh should integrate cultural and ethnic considerations of HIV/AIDS.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-04-2021
Abstract: The persistently high prevalence of girl-child marriage and adolescent motherhood is a public health concern in Bangladesh. This study investigated the ision-wise prevalence and the influence of education and religious affiliation on child marriage and adolescent motherhood among women in Bangladesh along with their consequences using 15,474 women aged 15–49 years from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18. Staggeringly, 82.5% women were married before 18, 43.1% were married before 15, and 61.8% gave birth before 18 years of age. Binary logistic regression models for the complex survey showed that girl-children with primary, secondary, and higher secondary or above education were 16% (95% CI: 0.69, 1.03), 32% (95% CI: 0.55, 0.84), and 87% (95% CI: 0.10, 0.17) less likely to get married years of age, respectively, compared to the uneducated. Also, girl-children with secondary and higher education were 21 and 83% less likely to become adolescent mothers, respectively, than the uneducated. Women married during childhood ( years) and adolescent mothers were 36 and 55% less likely to continue studies after marriage, respectively, and expressed that they significantly preferred a late marriage. Policy interventions need to address culturally-laden social norms influenced by religious-related beliefs, especially in rural areas.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-07-2020
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 13-02-2019
DOI: 10.1017/S1368980018003907
Abstract: The availability of iodized salt in households remains low in Bangladesh, which calls for improving the salt iodization quality and its coverage. The present study assessed the socio-economic disparity in Bangladesh to characterize the availability of iodized salt at household level. Associations between different socio-economic factors and availability of iodized salt at household level were explored using Bayesian mixed-effects logistic models after adjusting the district- and cluster-level random effects. Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 2012–13. Households (s le size, n 50981). Results showed that 73·15 % of household salt s les were iodized to some extent although iodization level varied. According to the regression model, houses with young (adjusted odds ratio of posterior mean (OR) = 1·31 95 % credible interval (CI) 1·09, 1·64) and educated (OR = 3·66 95 % CI 3·25, 4·23) household heads had significantly higher likelihood of availability of iodized salt. In addition, iodized salt was less likely be found in poor and rural households, as urban households were 2·88 times (95 % CI 2·41, 3·34) more likely have iodized salt. Moreover, the regional locations of the households were an important component that contributed to the local iodized salt coverage. As per the district-wise distribution, the north-west part of Bangladesh and Cox’s Bazar in the far south seemed to lack household-level iodized salt. Our findings suggest that iodized salt intervention should be promoted considering the area variations, which could potentially help policy makers to design interventions in the context of Bangladesh.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-04-2022
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 07-04-2020
DOI: 10.1017/S0021932020000176
Abstract: This study explored the association between socio-demographic factors and the body mass index (BMI) of women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in Bangladesh. Data from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS-14) were analysed using Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Quantile Regression (QR) analyses. The study s le comprised 15,636 non-pregnant women aged 15–49. The mean BMI of the women was 22.35±4.12 kg/m 2 . Over half (56.75%) had a BMI in the normal range (18 BMI kg/m 2 ), and 18.50%, 20.00% and 4.75% were underweight (BMI≤18 kg/m 2 ), overweight (25≤BMI kg/m 2 ) and obese (BMI≥30 kg/m 2 ), respectively. The results of the MLR found that age, wealth index, urban/rural place of residence, geographical ision, womenʼs educational status, husbandʼs educational status, womenʼs working status and total number of children ever born were significantly ( p .001) associated with respondents’ mean BMI. The QR results showed different associations between socio-demographic factors and mean BMI, as well as a different conditional distribution of mean BMI. Overall, the results indicated that women with uneducated husbands, with little or no education and from less-affluent households from rural areas tended to be more underweight compared with women in other groups. The inter-relationship between the study womenʼs mean BMI and associated socio-demographic factors was assessed using QR analysis to identify the most vulnerable cohorts of women in Bangladesh.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-05-2023
DOI: 10.1111/CHSO.12594
Abstract: Two early childhood development aspects: carer involvement with children, and their ownership of age‐appropriate books, were evaluated. Children aged 0–4 years from Bangladesh, extracted from population‐based Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, were assessed using survey adjusted logistic regression models and district‐wise spatial distribution. Among 13 806 children, 11.2% had no shared activities with carers, and 60.7% had at least four shared activities. Among 22 796 children, 27.4% owned at least one book. Higher carer–child shared activities and more child‐friendly books in households were observed in the Western part of Bangladesh. Children from higher socioeconomic households with educated mothers and greater exposure to media, had higher carer–child interaction and greater availability of books. These findings can aid policies targeting psychological and cognitive development of children in Bangladesh.
Publisher: Maad Rayan Publishing Company
Date: 10-06-2020
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 21-04-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.MIDW.2022.103480
Abstract: The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 3.1 aims to reduce maternal mortality worldwide to 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030, which requires greater skilled birth attendant (SBA) coverage and increased health awareness. By evaluating relevant sociodemographic factors, this study aimed to identify different groups of women who lack health awareness and access to SBA services in eight selected low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) of South and South-East Asia (SSEA), namely, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Timor-Leste. Nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) on women aged 15-49 years were analysed with a pooled s le of 95,521. Complex survey-adjusted logistic regression models were fitted to assess sociodemographic factors, SBA coverage, and health awareness. Women with higher health awareness were 44.4% (95% CI:1.32-1.58, p<0.001) more likely to access SBAs compared to the rest. Women and/or their partners with no or primary-level education, who were poorer, became young mothers (≤20 years), not involved in decision-making, or hardly exposed to media were less likely to seek SBAs and have higher health awareness. Women in rural areas with more children were also less likely to use SBAs. Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Nepal underperformed on SBA coverage amongst the selected LMICs of the SSEA region. Health education and mass-media-driven awareness could be an interventional avenue for LMICs to increase SBA coverage. Future studies comparing health policies within the SSEA region are required to identify reasons behind some nations' underperformance, while others are on track to achieve SDG 3.1.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-05-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-06-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.PUHE.2019.02.027
Abstract: Antenatal care (ANC) during pregnancy and skilled birth attendance (SBA) during delivery are important policy concerns to reduce maternal deaths. Bangladesh is one of the developing countries which has made remarkable progress in both services during the last couple of decades by improving the SBA service rate from 16% in 2004 to 42.1% in 2014. However, this rate remains below the targeted level (50%) of the Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Program set by the Ministry of the Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh. This article explored the sociodemographic factors associated with the ANC and SBA service attainment. Furthermore, the possible implication of using ANC on SBA was also investigated. The study followed a cross-sectional design using the Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2014, with a s le of size 4603 women with at least one live birth 3 years preceding the survey. Following a bivariate analysis, linear mixed-effect models were used to assess the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the outcome indicators (ANC and SBA). Finally, the association between SBA and ANC was evaluated through another mixed-effect model. Wealth index, participation in household decisions, and partner's and respondent's education were significant predictors of ANC whereas, residence, age at first birth, wealth index, working status, participation in household decisions, and partner and respondent's education were significant for SBA. Female education and household affordability were the strongest predictors for both ANC and SBA. ANC showed significant association with SBA as women accessing essential ANC during delivery seemed to be 4 times more likely (95% confidence interval: 3.05-5.93) to avail SBA services. Overall, four factors were significant: residence, wealth index, education, and ANC access. Women residing in urban areas, having higher financial solvency, completing higher education, and accessing ANC by skilled personnel were more likely to receive SBA at delivery than their counterparts. Accessibility to skilled care during pregnancy leads to increased professional care during delivery. Thus, policies to encourage women and heads of families to seek skilled care during pregnancy would be beneficial to reach the maternal healthcare targets of Bangladesh.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2018
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-06-2020
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-10-2022
Abstract: Child with Low Birth Weight (LBW) has a higher risk of infant mortality, learning difficulties in childhood due to stunted growth and impaired neurodevelopment, is more likely to develop heart diseases and diabetes in adulthood. This study aimed to evaluate the latest demographic and health surveys (DHSs) across multiple countries in South Asia to determine the factors associated with LBW among these countries. Latest available DHS data across Afghanistan (2015, n = 29,461), Bangladesh (2018, n = 20,127), Nepal (2016, n = 12,862), and Pakistan (2018, n = 15,068) were analysed. Complex survey adjusted generalized linear models were fitted to investigate the association of birth weight with sociodemographic and decision-making factors. Pakistan had the highest proportion of LBW at 18% followed by Afghanistan and Bangladesh at around 14% and Nepal had the lowest (13%). Children born in Pakistan were more likely to have LBW children than Afghanistan (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.49–3.14). Mothers living in rural areas (AOR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.61–0.97), with highly educated partners and belonging to richer families were less susceptible to having child with LBW. To reduce 30% LBW in-line with the World Health Organisation’s 2025 goal, policymakers in SA should focus on women in urban areas with low-educated partners belonging to poor households to ease LBW burden.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1017/S0950268820002095
Abstract: COVID-19 has spread across the globe with higher burden placed in Europe and North America. However, the rate of transmission has recently picked up in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the Indian subcontinent. There is a severe underreporting bias in the existing data available from these countries mostly due to the limitation of resources and accessibility. Most studies comparing cross-country cases or fatalities could fail to account for this systematic bias and reach erroneous conclusions. This paper provides several recommendations on how to effectively tackle these issues regarding data quality, test coverage and case counts.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-10-2023
DOI: 10.1002/HPM.3721
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 23-09-2019
DOI: 10.1017/S1368980019002611
Abstract: Bangladesh, like many emerging economies of South-East Asia, has started to experience a double burden of continuing high rates of undernutrition and increasing rates of overweight and obesity. A lack of assessment of the nutritional shift leaves a gap in current policies: the growing overweight and obesity is yet to be addressed. The present paper investigates the change in nutritional status, particularly the shift in BMI, of Bangladeshi women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and characterizes the vulnerable households for both underweight and overweight status during a period of 10 years (2004–2014). Generalized linear mixed-effect models were fitted for both urban and rural residents to assess underweight and overweight status. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys. Women aged 15–49 years ( n 53 077). The proportion of overweight increased during 2004–2014 from 10·7 to 25·1 % and the proportion of underweight decreased from 32·6 to 18·2 %. Prevalence of underweight status remained high in rural areas and prevalence of overweight increased rapidly in both rural and urban areas, creating a double burden. The significant contributors to this double burden were the change in women’s level of education, increased household wealth, isional location and rapid urbanization. The findings indicate that specific cohort- or area-based intervention policy studies in line with the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition are required to address the nutritional double burden in Bangladesh.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 21-11-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-04-2022
DOI: 10.1111/CTR.14673
Abstract: Split liver transplantation (SLT) enables two recipients to be transplanted using a single donor liver typically, an adult and a child. Despite equivalent long‐term outcomes to whole grafts in selected adults, the use of these grafts in high‐risk adult recipients with high model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) scores (≥30), a poor pre‐transplant clinical status (ICU or hospital‐bound), acute liver failure or retransplantation remains controversial. We retrospectively analyzed all deceased donor adult liver transplants performed between July 2002 and November 2019 at a single high‐volume center and performed a propensity score‐matched analysis. A subgroup analysis was performed to assess utility of these grafts for high‐risk recipients. A total of 1090 adult liver transplants were performed, including 155 SLT (14%). Graft survival at 1‐, 3‐ and 5‐years were comparable between recipients of split and whole liver grafts (82%, 79% and 74% vs. 86%, 81% and 77%, respectively, log rank P = .537), as was patient survival at 1‐, 3‐ and 5‐years. Recipients of split grafts were more likely to have biliary complications and hepatic artery thrombosis, but equivalent long‐term survival. Recipients with high MELD scores or a poor pre‐transplant clinical status had similar patient and graft survival and complication profiles irrespective of whether they received split or whole grafts. SLT is an important method for addressing donor shortages and provides comparable long‐term outcomes in adult recipients despite an increase in short‐term complications. SLT use in high‐risk recipients should be considered to allow for sickest‐first allocation policies.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-10-2017
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-08-2023
DOI: 10.1177/08901171231198451
Abstract: The present study identified the vulnerable IPV cohorts of South Asian women, and the prevalence of and predictors of the women’s IPV acceptance. Cross-sectional survey - the United Nations Children’s Fund multiple index cluster survey. Many South Asian women are accepting of IPV. Studies mostly focus on in idual countries. 103 139 ever-married women from Bangladesh, Laos and Nepal. Women’s attitudes toward IPV were measured using a set of five, fixed, binary responses. Following bivariate analysis, complex survey weight adjusted logistic regression models were fitted for in idual country data, and the pooled s le. Of the s led South Asian women 27.8% accepted IPV, and no major variation among countries in IPV acceptance. Education was the most reliable protector against IPV acceptance whereby, higher educational attainment systematically reduced IPV acceptance (OR = .61 [.56-.83]). Other significant protective factors were being un-married (Married OR = 1.34 [1.28-1.42]), having increased wealth (OR = .71 [.56-.83]), and being over 24 years old (OR = .88 [.83-.97]). Only education produced absolute consistency at the country and region level there seems to be no blanket solution for regionally reducing women’s IPV acceptance rates in Southern Asia. Focus on the least educated women and making education more accessible should be prioritised. Future IPV studies can consider measurement methods for women’s direct exposure to patriarchal standards and within community interaction.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-09-2018
DOI: 10.1111/JEP.13028
Abstract: Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country that has recently joined the ranks of low-middle-income countries. This study aims to investigate how socioeconomic and developmental factors have influenced women towards a shift in their body mass index (BMI). The trend was analysed using data on ever-married women from 6 nationwide surveys covering the years 1996 to 2014, conducted by the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). To assess the relationship between the socioeconomic factors and BMI, binary regression models were fitted for 6 surveys and forest plots were applied to display the results. Factors such as age, education, residence, economic status, and contraceptive use were found to have had an increasing influence on BMI over the years that were being analysed. Age and education for women were potential factors influencing BMI. Growing urbanization and economic inequality were found to have been substantial over time, and marital status and contraceptive use were influential whilst the employment status of women held no consequence. Rapid urbanization allied with growing wealth inequality and dietary alteration seems to have forced a change in the capacity of women in Bangladesh to control their weight. Additional information is still needed on such factors as the amount of time that women are inactive and sitting down, for ex le, as well as their daily calorie intake in order to assemble all the pieces for addressing necessary health policy changes in Bangladesh. These factors will also help to indicate a shift of focus from rural malnutrition to urban obesity.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-08-2020
DOI: 10.1111/JEP.13467
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-06-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S11469-022-00860-8
Abstract: Adolescent mental well-being hardly took precedence in Bangladesh, which is reflected in both policies and literature. This study assessed the common symptoms of depression among school-going adolescents (aged 10–19 years) in Bangladesh. Primary data were collected during October–November 2019 from 289 participants in four schools using a questionnaire based on the WHO global school-based student health survey and WHO stepwise approach to NCD (Tools version 9.5). Sadness (45.3%) and aggression (40.5%) were the most common depressive symptoms found in the study, followed by confusion (27.7%), worthlessness (21.8%), fatigue (21.5%), and insomnia (18.0%). The sex of the student, grade of study, and duration of daily sleep showed differential associations with these symptoms. These findings indicate a crucial stage of adolescence, where the different societal pressures often ignored by primary carers, could have detrimental effect on children. There is an urgent need to address the growing adolescent mental health issue in Bangladesh and a need for health system to recognize its precedence.
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 04-2021
DOI: 10.1136/BMJOPEN-2020-042134
Abstract: Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) has become a growing public health concern in many low-income and middle-income nations for its association with several health risks. This study observed types of menstrual absorbents used among women in Bangladesh and analysed the associated sociodemographic factors with the hypothesis that mass media can increase awareness regarding MHM. The study includes recommendations for possible intervention strategies designed to address this lack of awareness. The analysis used the data from the nationally representative Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019 that employed a two-stage, stratified cluster s ling approach, with a study s le of 54 242 women aged between 15 and 49 years. A generalised linear model was fitted to the data adjusting for survey weights and cluster/strata variations along with bivariate analyses and spatial mapping. Only a quarter of women (24.3%) used modern absorbents for MHM with most resorting to unhygienic traditional practices. Spatial distribution showed that the use of modern absorbent of MHM was limited to the major cities. The women who had mobile phones and regular access to the media were nearly 43% (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.43 with 95% CI 1.33 to 1.54) and 47% (AOR 1.47 with 95% CI 1.35 to 1.60) more likely to use the modern absorbents of MHM, respectively. Furthermore, educated women living in urban solvent households with educated house heads were also found to use modern absorbents of MHM. There appeared to be scope for interventions through a combined national effort to raise awareness using multifaceted media channels regarding MHM among women in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals 3.7 and 6.2 of addressing women’s healthcare and hygiene needs.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-05-2019
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-05-2017
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 15-03-2022
Abstract: This study estimated the attitudes of women toward accepting IPV at district level in Bangladesh and examined its relationship with sociodemographic predictors including exposure to media (e.g., newspaper, radio and television) using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey-2019 with a s le of 63,689 women. Around 25.6% women accepted IPV that geographically varied from 1.78% (Pirojpur) to 57.14% (Kurigram). Women regularly exposed to media were 17% less likely to accept IPV. Attitude toward accepting IPV was found to be higher among the illiterate women in disadvantaged circumstances, patriotically from poorer households living in remote areas, which suggest that planned interventions are needed for this vulnerable group of women to improve their living status by providing access to education and media. Further research is necessary to assess the impact of women’s empowerment on their attitude toward acceptance of IPV.
No related grants have been discovered for Raaj Kishore Biswas.