Abstract
BackgroundSouth-Asian countries are considered to be a potential breeding ground for HIV epidemic. Although the prevalence of this incurable disease is low in Bangladesh, women still have been identified as more vulnerable group. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge about HIV/AIDS: its trends and associated factors among the women in Bangladesh.MethodsWe analysed the nationally representative repeatedly cross-sectional Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHSs) data: 2007, 2011, and 2014. These data were clustered in nature due to the sampling design and the generalized mixed effects model is appropriate to examine the association between the outcome and the explanatory variables by adjusting for the cluster effect.ResultsOverall, women’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS has been decreasing over the years. Education plays the leading role and secondary-higher educated women are 6.6 times more likely to have HIV/AIDS knowledge. The likelihood of knowledge is higher among the women who had media exposure (OR: 1.6) and knowledge on family planning (OR: 2.3). A rural-urban gap is noticed in women’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS and significant improvement has been observed among the rural and media exposed women. Results reveal that age, region, religion, socio-economic status, education, contraceptive use have significant (p<0.01) effects on women’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS.ConclusionThis study recommends to emphasis more on women’s education, media exposure, and family planning knowledge in strengthening women’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS. In addition, residence specific programs regarding HIV/AIDS awareness also need to be prioritized.
Highlights
South-Asian countries are considered to be a potential breeding ground for humane immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic
The descriptive measures show that the percentage of women with knowledge about HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) slightly increased for the women aged 25–49 years and decreased for the women aged 15–24 years, of which young married women (15–19 years) show a more steeper decline
Using a mixed modeling approach, this study reveals women’s age, region, residence, religion, socio-economic status, women’s and husbands’ highest level of education, media use, contraceptive use, family planning knowledge have a significant influence on women’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS
Summary
South-Asian countries are considered to be a potential breeding ground for HIV epidemic. There are many potential factors that are attributable to this increased risk of HIV infection and/or transmission: geographical and cultural proximity to India and Myanmar-two severely affected countries [8, 11], poverty, gender inequity, high levels of transitional sex [12], mobility of boatmen across the border area [13], and especially, the low-level knowledge about HIV/AIDS. In 2014, Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) identified female population as more vulnerable group than male population and observed that about 70% of the married women are knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, which is very similar to that of documented in 2011 [6]. The perception among the women in Bangladesh about HIV/AIDS is often contaminated with myths, facts, and rumors [19], which further contribute to HIV infection and/or transmission
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