Biomedical Statistics and Informatics

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Women’s Autonomy and Reproductive Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Bangladesh: Further Analysis of the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey

Received: Jul. 02, 2018    Accepted: Jul. 16, 2018    Published: Aug. 14, 2018
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Abstract

Women’s autonomy or empowerment is an important issue to achieve targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Bangladesh. There are several indicators to measure the women empowerment. Health seeking information is one of the most important indicators in this view. This study aims at identifying women’s maternal and child health-care seeking in relation to women empowerment in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 data was used for the study. A total of 1875 women of reproductive age with complete information on the selected predictors were identified for this analysis by multistage stratified cluster sampling design. Multiple logistic regression and X2 statistic were used to study determinant factors. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Among 1875 women sampled, 87.7% and 88.5% were received antenatal care and postnatal care respectively. Out of women who resided in urban areas, 91.2% women got postnatal care and 93.7% women received antenatal care where as only 83.4% rural women’s get antenatal care and 86.6% women got postnatal care respectively. Division, type of residence, respondent’s education level, wealth index, decision maker for using contraception, partner's education level, respondent’s currently working status, beating justified if wife goes out without telling husband, neglects the children, argues with husband, refuses to have sex with husband, burns the food respectively, women’s body mass index and age of 1st birth were found to be statistically significant determinants of receiving antenatal care. Type of residence, wealth index, respondent’s currently working status, person who usually decides on visits to family or relatives, beating justified if wife argues with husband were found to be statistically significant determinants of receiving postnatal care. In summary, our analysis highlights concerning continuing healthcare-seeking challenges in Bangladesh. This study explores the factors associated with women’s autonomy and reproductive healthcare-seeking behavior in Bangladesh.

DOI 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13
Published in Biomedical Statistics and Informatics ( Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2018 )
Page(s) 22-28
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Women Empowerment, Decision-Making, Health Seeking Behavior, BDHS, Bangladesh

References
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[3] Sen G. Womens empowerment and human rights: the challenge to policy. In: Population – the complex reality. A Report of the Population Summit of the World's Scientific Academies, edited by Francis Graham-Smith. London: Royal Society; 1994. p. 363–72.
[4] Klugman J, Hanmer L, Twigg S, Hasan T, McCleary-Sills J, Santamaria J. Voice and agency: Empowering women and girls for shared prosperity. Washington: World Bank Publications; 2014.
[5] Pratley P. Associations between quantitative measures of women's empowerment and access to care and health status for mothers and their children: A systematic review of evidence from the developing world. Soc Sci Med. 2016; 169:119–31.
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[7] Ahmed S, Creanga AA, Gillespie DG, Tsui AO. Economic status, education and empowerment: implications for maternal health service utilization in developing countries. PLoS One. 2010; 5 (6):e11190.
[8] Hasan MN, Uddin MS. Women empowerment through health seeking behavior in Bangladesh: Evidence from a national survey. South East Asia Journal of Public Health. 2016 Dec 10; 6 (1):40-5.
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[18] Sharma, S. K., Sawangdee Y. and Sirirassamee B. Access to health: women's status and utilization of maternal health services in Nepal. Journal of Biosocial Science, 2007; 39: 671-692.
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  • APA Style

    Sohani Afroja, Mahmudur Rahman, Lopa Islam. (2018). Women’s Autonomy and Reproductive Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Bangladesh: Further Analysis of the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, 3(2), 22-28. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13

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    ACS Style

    Sohani Afroja; Mahmudur Rahman; Lopa Islam. Women’s Autonomy and Reproductive Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Bangladesh: Further Analysis of the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Biomed. Stat. Inform. 2018, 3(2), 22-28. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13

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    AMA Style

    Sohani Afroja, Mahmudur Rahman, Lopa Islam. Women’s Autonomy and Reproductive Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Bangladesh: Further Analysis of the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Biomed Stat Inform. 2018;3(2):22-28. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13,
      author = {Sohani Afroja and Mahmudur Rahman and Lopa Islam},
      title = {Women’s Autonomy and Reproductive Healthcare-Seeking Behavior in Bangladesh: Further Analysis of the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey},
      journal = {Biomedical Statistics and Informatics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2},
      pages = {22-28},
      doi = {10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bsi.20180302.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bsi.20180302.13},
      abstract = {Women’s autonomy or empowerment is an important issue to achieve targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Bangladesh. There are several indicators to measure the women empowerment. Health seeking information is one of the most important indicators in this view. This study aims at identifying women’s maternal and child health-care seeking in relation to women empowerment in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 data was used for the study. A total of 1875 women of reproductive age with complete information on the selected predictors were identified for this analysis by multistage stratified cluster sampling design. Multiple logistic regression and X2 statistic were used to study determinant factors. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Among 1875 women sampled, 87.7% and 88.5% were received antenatal care and postnatal care respectively. Out of women who resided in urban areas, 91.2% women got postnatal care and 93.7% women received antenatal care where as only 83.4% rural women’s get antenatal care and 86.6% women got postnatal care respectively. Division, type of residence, respondent’s education level, wealth index, decision maker for using contraception, partner's education level, respondent’s currently working status, beating justified if wife goes out without telling husband, neglects the children, argues with husband, refuses to have sex with husband, burns the food respectively, women’s body mass index and age of 1st birth were found to be statistically significant determinants of receiving antenatal care. Type of residence, wealth index, respondent’s currently working status, person who usually decides on visits to family or relatives, beating justified if wife argues with husband were found to be statistically significant determinants of receiving postnatal care. In summary, our analysis highlights concerning continuing healthcare-seeking challenges in Bangladesh. This study explores the factors associated with women’s autonomy and reproductive healthcare-seeking behavior in Bangladesh.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    AB  - Women’s autonomy or empowerment is an important issue to achieve targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Bangladesh. There are several indicators to measure the women empowerment. Health seeking information is one of the most important indicators in this view. This study aims at identifying women’s maternal and child health-care seeking in relation to women empowerment in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 data was used for the study. A total of 1875 women of reproductive age with complete information on the selected predictors were identified for this analysis by multistage stratified cluster sampling design. Multiple logistic regression and X2 statistic were used to study determinant factors. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Among 1875 women sampled, 87.7% and 88.5% were received antenatal care and postnatal care respectively. Out of women who resided in urban areas, 91.2% women got postnatal care and 93.7% women received antenatal care where as only 83.4% rural women’s get antenatal care and 86.6% women got postnatal care respectively. Division, type of residence, respondent’s education level, wealth index, decision maker for using contraception, partner's education level, respondent’s currently working status, beating justified if wife goes out without telling husband, neglects the children, argues with husband, refuses to have sex with husband, burns the food respectively, women’s body mass index and age of 1st birth were found to be statistically significant determinants of receiving antenatal care. Type of residence, wealth index, respondent’s currently working status, person who usually decides on visits to family or relatives, beating justified if wife argues with husband were found to be statistically significant determinants of receiving postnatal care. In summary, our analysis highlights concerning continuing healthcare-seeking challenges in Bangladesh. This study explores the factors associated with women’s autonomy and reproductive healthcare-seeking behavior in Bangladesh.
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Author Information
  • Department of Statistics, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh

  • Department of Horticulture, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Urban and Rural Planning, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh

  • Section