Prevalence and correlates of HIV/AIDS knowledge among ever married women of reproductive age in Bangladesh: an update from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014

Abstract

Background: Knowledge about HIV/AIDS is crucial to prevent the HIV/AIDS disease burden, especially for women of reproductive age to protect their offspring from mother-to-child transmissions of HIV/AIDS. This study aims to explore the prevalence and correlates of HIV/AIDS knowledge among ever-married reproductive women in Bangladesh. Methods: Data were extracted from a nationally representative two-stage stratified Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) conducted in 2014. Knowledge level of women regarding HIV/AIDS was constructed by scoring 11 dichotomous knowledge questions and classified into low, moderate and high level by using the principal component analysis. Multiple multinomial logistic regression model was fitted to identify the correlates. Results: Among 17,863 ever-married women of reproductive age, 70% had ever heard about HIV/AIDS, and 34.2% had low, 33.0% had moderate and 32.8% had high level of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Women with age at first marriage between 15-19 years and ≥20 years of age were respectively 1.18 and 1.85 times more likely to have high HIV/AIDS knowledge than women who got married before 15 years of age. Compared to illiterate women, women who completed primary and secondary or higher education had higher odds of having both moderate and high HIV/AIDS knowledge. Women exposed to mass-media were 2.39 and 2.91 times more likely to have moderate and high HIV/AIDS knowledge respectively than women without mass-media exposure. Conclusions: Findings of this study stress the importance of building awareness regarding the transmissions and consequences of HIV/AIDS among women of reproductive age in order to avert the risk of further spread. Through promotion of female education, incorporation of HIV/AIDS teaching in the national curriculum and vigorous mass media campaigns, women’s awareness about HIV/AIDS can be enhanced effectively. Also, strict enforcement of policy to prevent early marriage will aid in better control of HIV in Bangladesh.