Average Monthly Family Income Research Articles

Nursing stress and associated factors during covid-19 pandemic: findings of a cross-sectional study at tertiary hospitals in Bangladesh

Background: The COVID-19 epidemic has posed an unparalleled obstacle to healthcare systems worldwide. Particularly in the pandemic period, nursing is seen as a demanding profession with high standards. This study was conducted to assess the level of nursing stress and to identify the factors related to high nursing stress among nurses working in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from selected three dedicated COVID-19 public hospitals in Dhaka city of Bangladesh named Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, and Hospital, Dhaka North City Corporation dedicated COVID-19 hospital from 1st July 2021 to 30th June 2022. Total respondents were 368 who had working experience more than 6 months in above mentioned hospitals. Data were collected by face-to-face interview through pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Nursing stress was assessed by Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) and categorized as low (≤39), moderate (40-62), and high (>62) stress score. Data analysis was carried out by using SPSS version 26. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 30.8±7.8 years, wherein highest number of respondents were in age group 20-30 years (50.3%). Among the respondents 86.7% were female, 83.4% were married and average monthly family income Tk. 53839±28587.7 taka. About 63% respondents had diploma degrees, 77.4% worked in different wards, and mean working hour per week was 51.9±5.6 hour. Overall, maximum 52.2% had moderate stress, while 39.4% had high stress and only 8.4% had low stress. Age >30 years, male, marital status, working place, having senior citizen (>60 years) and feeling stressed for isolation were the significant risk factors for having high stress level. Conclusion: Occupational health education, training programs, stress relieving programs, and motivational programs must be implemented in tertiary level hospitals. Special attention should be given on older aged married male nurses, having elderly family members and feeling stressed for isolation. JOPSOM 2023; 42(1):54-61

Assessing the current situation and the influencing factors affecting perceived stigma among older patients after leukemia diagnosis

BACKGROUND Psychological problems are becoming increasingly prominent among older patients with leukemia, with patients potentially facing stigmatization after diagnosis. However, there is limited research on the stigma experienced by these patients and the factors that may contribute to it. AIM To investigate the stigma faced by older patients after being diagnosed with leukemia and to analyze the potential influencing factors. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted using clinical data obtained from questionnaire surveys, interviews, and the medical records of older patients with leukemia admitted to the Hengyang Medical School from June 2020 to June 2023. The data obtained included participants’ basic demographic information, medical history, leukemia type, family history of leukemia, average monthly family income, pension, and tendency to conceal illness. The Chinese versions of the Social Impact Scale (SIS), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used to assess indicators related to stigma, social support, and mental health status. We used Pearson’s correlation coefficient to analyze the strength and direction of the relationship between the scores of each scale, and regression analysis to explore the factors related to the stigma of older patients with leukemia after diagnosis. RESULTS Data from 120 patients with leukemia aged 65-80 years were analyzed. The total score on the SIS and PSSS was 43.60 ± 4.07 and 37.06 ± 2.87, respectively. The SAS score was 58.35 ± 8.32 and the SDS score was 60.58 ± 5.97. The stigma experienced by older leukemia patients was negatively correlated with social support (r = -0.691, P < 0.05) and positively correlated with anxiety and depression (r = 0.506, 0.382, P < 0.05). Age, education level, smoking status, average monthly family income, pension, and tendency to conceal illness were significantly associated with the participants’ level of stigma (P < 0.05). Age, smoking status, social support, anxiety, and depression were predictive factors of stigmatization among older leukemia patients after diagnosis (all P < 0.05), with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.644 and an adjusted R2 of 0.607. CONCLUSION Older patients commonly experience stigmatization after being diagnosed with leukemia. Factors such as age, smoking status, social support, and psychological well-being may influence older patients’ reported experience of stigma.

Coping Strategies for Financial Burden of Family for the Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopment disorder and an emerging public health issue globally which is associated with huge burden to the family, community and the nation. Study was conducted to find out the coping strategies for financial burden of the family with ASD children. Methods: A cross-sectional study on 154 children with ASD was carried out from July 2015 to June 2016 where data were collected from two special schools and two specialized hospitals of Dhaka city. Data were collected by face-to-face interview with semi-structured questionnaire following systematic random sampling technique. Informed written consent was taken from the parents. Results: Majority (73.4%) of the children were male and average monthly family income and total treatment cost was Tk. 41785.7 and Tk. 23076.62 respectively. However, coping strategies were adopted by the family “changing lifestyle” (96.8%), “accepting the reality” (100%), “minimizing family investment” (90.3%). Again, 52.5% families minimized family investment as coping strategies, 52.2% families had financial constraint as consequences of financial burden, which were significantly higher in comparison with others (p<0.05). Conclusion: ASD foist huge financial burden to the families of affected children. To compensate this financial burden, families adopted different coping strategies like changing lifestyle, taking social support, relying on religion, minimizing family investment, accepting reality etc. Appropriate early diagnostic facilities should be available to estimate the actual burden of the country. Bangladesh Armed Forces Med J Vol 56 No (2) December 2023, pp 38-44

An assessment on land management services of ministry of environment, natural resources, and energy: the case of Sulu Province

BARMM-MENRE land management services research after legal and administrative reforms. With descriptive-exploratory design, it evaluated 100 clients. Results showed Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy-Sulu Land Management Services clients view service execution differently. Certificate of Survey/Land Status Customer satisfaction means good service. Client-respondents impartially approve Survey Plans and title public land. Hypothesis testing demonstrates no gender, civil status, or educational implementation perception gap. Land Management Services subcategory matches age and average monthly family income. This study suggests: Land Management Services of Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy-Sulu may review the processes involved to improve the satisfaction of the client-respondents with the Application for the Approval of Survey Plan and Application for Public Land Titling; Land Management Services of Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy-Sulu may conduct an outreach and information campaigns to raise awareness and educate the public about the benefits and procedures of availing the services to address the disparities in the perceived implementation of the services; Clients may communicate their concerns and suggestions to the service providers and seek assistance when needed especially in Application for the Approval of Survey Plan and Application for Public Land Titling; Employees who are involved in the delivery of the Certification of Land Status and/or Survey Claimant services may maintain their high standards of quality and efficiency and seek to improve their customer satisfaction ratings; and in the delivery of the Application for the Approval of Survey Plan and Application for Public Land Titling services Employees can discover causes of neutral or negative client attitudes and enhance service and satisfaction.

Family health assessment in Ifugao, Philippines: a baseline study for Health In-tervention Program

A study was conducted to assess the health status of families in selected communities in Ifugao, Philippines. Interviews were done using a guide questionnaire adopted from the Family Health Management Manual for Nursing Students by Lydia Capistrano-Viet. The findings showed that the majority of households are nuclear, consisting of 5–10 people, and have an average monthly family income of 5,000–10,000 Philippine peso. The majority of the families possessed their own lots and homes made of wood and concrete, with enough space for the entire family. The majority of them disposed of their trash by burning it or giving it to animals. Nearly majority of them feature closed drainage systems and flush toilets. The majority reported that their homes lacked bug and rodent breeding grounds and shared a water supply. Additionally, they felt that their families' health was good as they had only experienced colds and the common cold over the previous six months. As shown by the fact that all of the respondents visit doctors and the health center for their medical requirements, 80% of them have complete immunization records. More or less seventy percent of people said they also follow healthy habits. The findings also demonstrate the availability of transportation, communication, and health resources in the neighborhood. A health intervention program aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of family clients in the community will be developed based on the study's findings.

Growth mindset and english language learning efficacy among junior high school students at Sulu State College – Laboratory High School

This study assessed the level of students’ growth mindset and English language learning efficacy of junior high school students at Sulu State College– Laboratory High School during the School Year 2022-2023 using descriptive-correlational study. With 100 samples taken through non-probability sampling method via purposive sampling, and with the use of weighted mean, standard deviation, t-test for independent samples, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson’s r, this study reveals the following findings: 1) Out of 100 student-respondents, mostly are female, within the range of 20 years old & below, whose parents have college level of education, whose parents’ monthly earning pegged at 10,000 & below, and grade level from 7 to 10 are equally represented. 2) On the average, students moderately believe that their own intelligence allows them to embrace and overcome difficulties in learning English language. 3) On the average, students have high ability and efficacy in learning English language through self-efficacy in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 4) Generally, students’ demographic profiles in terms of Age, Average Monthly Family Income, and Grade Level do significantly mediate in ways how they assessed the Growth Mindset. 5) Generally, students’ demographic profiles do not significantly mediate in ways how they assessed English language learning efficacy. 6) The junior high school students at Sulu State College- Laboratory High School who assessed the level of Growth Mindset as Moderate Level are most probably the same group of junior high school students who assessed the English Language Learning efficacy with High Level, respectively. 7) This study seems to support Bandura’s (1986) Social Cognitive Framework which espouses that the triadic interaction between personal, behavioral and environmental factors is central to the social cognitive theory. Accordingly, human beings have cognitive abilities to self-organize, selfreflect, and self-regulate according to the changes in the environment and determine their own social destiny. In order to do so, people have to be proactive in their development and make things happen through their own efforts.

Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with the Uptake of Community Led Total Sanitation: An Empirical Study among the Residents of Isiolo County, Kenya

Despite Kenya aiming to achieve 100% ODF status by 2030 and adopting CLTS, about 5.6 million (14%) of the population practice OD. Thus, this study was guided by the research question: What is the level of uptake of community led total sanitation among residents of Isiolo County? The study used a descriptive cross-sectional methodology and conducted among residents of Isiolo Sub-County, Kenya. The study sampled 373 household heads from population of about 21,870 household heads for the study. Systematic random sampling was used to select the participants. An inclusion and exclusion criteria-based period lived in the county and consent to participate in the study were used. Data collection instruments entailed structured questionnaires for households’ heads, key informant interview (KII) guides for opinion leaders, and an observation checklist. The content validity of the tools was assessed by expert from the department of Environmental Health at Kenyatta University. The tools were piloted in Longopito Sub-location with 37 households. Reliability of the tools was assessed using the piloted data through the test-retest technique. The paired data sets were correlated, giving R=0.75. The study found an association between demographic factors and the uptake of CLTS in Isiolo county. The uptake of CLTS was found to be low with almost half of the sampled residents lacking latrines. The study concludes there were a number of demographic factors that were significantly associated with the utilization of CLTS including the highest level of education (χ2=66.866, p = 0.001), Occupation (χ2=12.690, p = 0.002), Average monthly family income (KShs) (χ2=43.373, p = 0.012) and number of household members (χ2=6.948, p = 0.044). The study also found that Isiolo County had a low uptake rate for community-led total sanitation. Only three out of ten households in the county uptake CLTS. The study recommends that the County Government of Isiolo should scale up health education programs on community led total sanitation

Social Awareness and Use of Face Masks among Medical Students in Association with the COVID-19 Pandemic

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted to assess the level of social awareness and use of face mask in association with the COVID-19 pandemic among the medical students of Ad-din Sakina Women’s Medical College, Jashore, Bangladesh, between January and February of 2022. The study was carried out in the Department of Community Medicine. A total of 354 students of the same medical college participated in the survey. Data was collected by structured questionnaire and data processing and statistical analysis were done by using SPSS version 25.0. The age of the respondents was between 18 and 26 years. The mean age was 21.73 years. 82.8% of respondents were Muslims and 15.3% were Hindu. The average monthly family income of respondents was about 53,000 BDT. 83% of the respondents used face masks for the protection against COVID-19. 70.3% of the respondents relied more on the surgical type of mask. According to the survey the main mode of transmission of virus was found to be through respiratory droplets by 87.3% of the respondents. However, 13% failed to recognize droplet inhalation as a source of transmission. 92.1% of the respondents believed that the route of transmission includes eyes, nose, and mouth. Among the respondents 96% sanitize hand and face properly and 87.3% maintain social distance. It was found out that 7.1 percent of the respondents were affected by COVID-19 and 100% respondents were vaccinated against COVID-19. These findings clearly showed a satisfactory level of awareness and attitudes among the medical students towards COVID-19. Promoting the use of facemasks and educating the public about mask-wearing as an effective tool in disease prevention may also help to increase the public’s perceived benefits, which may then also contribute to increasing mask-wearing compliance. Facemasks play a pivotal role in the prevention and control of infectious respiratory disease transmission. CBMJ 2024 January: vol. 13 no. 01 P: 71-76

Masticatory performance, self-perception of oral health, oral health-related quality of life and nutritional status of completely edentulous elderly patients submitted to different rehabilitation treatments: A cross-sectional study.

The impact of treatments on completely edentulous individuals on masticatory performance (MP), oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), nutritional status (NS) and socio-economic profile (SP) is unclear in the literature. To compare the MP, OHRQoL, NS and SP of totally edentulous elderly users of bimaxillary complete dentures (CD) and users of lower implant-supported fixed complete dentures (IFCD). Forty participants were allocated into groups according to rehabilitation treatment (n = 20): bimaxillary CD (G1) and lower IFCD, and upper CD (G2). The evaluation of MP used almonds by the method of sieves. Four questionnaires (Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index-GOHAI and Oral Health Impact Profile Edent-OHIP-Edent, Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria-ABEP and Mini Nutritional Assessment-MNA) were applied to assess the OHRQoL, SP and NS of the elderly, respectively. After evaluating the statistical assumptions, the Mann-Whitney (α = .05) test was applied to compare the groups regarding MP, OHRQoL, NS and SP. Spearman's correlation (α = .05) was performed to verify the correlation between the MP, the OHRQoL and the NS of the participants. G2 showed better MP (p < .05) in all masticatory cycles, OHRQoL (p < .05) and NS than the G1. However, the participants' self-perception of oral health did not differ between groups (p < .05). A moderate negative correlation was found between MP and OHRQoL for 40 masticatory cycles (r2 = -0.513; p = .001). Individuals rehabilitated with IFCD had a higher average monthly family income and achieved superior behaviour in MP and OHRQoL, in addition to lower risks of malnutrition when compared to individuals using bimaxillary CD.

CONSUMER ATTITUDE IN PURCHASING ORGANIC VEGETABLES IN SLEMAN REGENCY

Organic vegetables, increasingly popular in Sleman Regency, are chosen based on various attributes. This research investigates consumer attitudes toward these attributes and the characteristics of organic vegetable consumers in the area. Data were gathered from 50 respondents through interviews at organic farms, supermarkets, and organic product stores. The analysis used Fishbein multi-attribute analysis to assess consumer attitudes and cross-tabulation to identify consumer characteristics. Results indicated positive attitudes toward physical appearance and freshness, while attitudes toward price, variety, packaging, and organic labeling were neutral. The typical organic vegetable consumer in Sleman Regency is a married woman, aged 35-44, holding a bachelor's degree, employed as a housewife, with an average monthly family income exceeding Rp10,000,000.00.

Investigation on the relationship between Eysenck personality type and the survival rate of traumatic amputated finger replantation based on preventive psychology

This paper tried to observe the relationship between the personality of patients with different personalities and the survival rate of replantation of traumatic amputated finger, and analyzed the influencing factors. EPQ psychological quality scores of patients with different gender, average monthly family income and age were significantly different (P < 0.05). In terms of the internal and external tendency score of EPQ, there were statistical requirements for differences in the mean monthly income of patients from different families (P < 0.05). For the concealment degree of EPQ, there were statistical requirements for differences in gender, family income, education level and patient scores (P < 0.05). In terms of mental state, the scores were higher than the standard, whether from the perspective of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, or from the perspective of interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, paranoia and other dimensions, the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Patients with different personality types have different psychological problems after accidental amputation and replantation, which is directly related to the survival rate of postoperative finger amputation. Therefore, in order to effectively improve the survival rate of patients with finger amputation, the psychological condition of patients can be assessed, early detection and intervention of patients' psychological problems, and appropriate intervention measures can be taken according to the personality characteristics of patients.

LIFE SATISFACTION OF OPEN EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS REGARDING VARIOUS DEMOGRAPHIC

In the present study, the descriptive demographic characteristics, life satisfaction levels, and differentiation status of open education high school students according to various variables were revealed. The research was carried out with a sample of five hundred open education high school students via a survey model by means of convenience sampling. The findings obtained indicate that the life satisfaction levels of open education high school students were low. In addition, life satisfaction differed according to the variables age, families’ monthly income, and the reason for choosing open education high school. When the demographic characteristics of the open education high school students were examined, it was seen that the following information applied to the majority of them: (1) Most were female students, (2) between the ages of 15 and 20, (3) whose parents had primary school level or below education, (4) whose parents mostly did not work or only their fathers worked, (5) with an average monthly family income of five thousand TRY and below, (6) had mostly migrated from the Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia Regions to Istanbul, and (7) they chose open education high school mostly because of job requirements.

The Views of Middle School Students on Distance and Face-to-Face Education on Mathematics Education during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The spread of the Covid-19 all over the world have negatively affected many areas, leading to a number changes throughout the world. Being one of these areas, education had to undergone some changes and shifted to distance education during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, distance education has also brought some discussions and problems. This study was carried out to investigate the thoughts of middle school students on distance education and face-to-face education. Based on quantitative research design, this study adopted a phenomenological design Data were collected from a participant group consisting of 240 secondary school students (60 5th grade, 60 6th grade, 60 7th grade and 60 8th grade) through a scale prepared by the researchers. The data were analyzed using SPSS package program with descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. As a result of the study It was found that middle school students’ views on distance education and face-to-face education differed significantly with regard to parents’ education level, gender, grade level and average monthly family income.

Accessibility of End-Stage Renal Disease Patients to Health Care Services of a Specialized Hospital

Objective: This study was conducted to assess accessibility of ESRD patients to health care services of a specialized hospital. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study, which was conducted at the National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU), Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from January to December 2021. The study included 384 ESRD patients, who were selected by purposive sampling technique. Data were collected by face-to-face interview with a pretested, semi- structured questionnaire and data were analyzed by current Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 version. Associations of the categorical data were assessed by using Chi-square (x2) test. Prior to data collection, informed written consent was taken from each patient. Results: The study revealed that males (67.2%) and females (32.8%) were portion with mean age of 48.2±12.1 years. More than three fourth (79.9%) were married and 32.3% had graduation and it’s above of education level while 1.6% were illiterate. One forth was housewives; average family size was 5.17 (±2.00) and average monthly family income was Tk.44820.31 (±48545.87). More than fifty percent (58%) of the patients had come to the hospital from 30 kilometer away. About three forth (75.3%) of the patients went to the hospital by bus and 1.6% by rickshaw. Most of the patients (82%) were needed for admission within last one month and very fewer (10%) had got bed for admission. Average waiting time was 5.6 (±3.4) months to get dialysis schedule. Off all, 70.6 % got fewer prescribed drugs for dialysis treatment, majority (81.8%) got Femoral/Jugular catheterization service and only 2% got arteri-venous fistula services by the hospital. Among all participants, more than fifty percent (55.7%) got easy access for laboratory test and 28.1% got for radiological test. About half (56%) of the patients got cooperation by hospital staffs. It was found that males (46.5%) had significantly (p&lt;0.05) average accessibility to the health care services than their counterpart females (21.8%). On the residency, rural patients (8.3%), had significantly (p&lt;0.05) poor accessibility to health care services than urban patients (4.4%). Majority (68%) ESRD patients had average level of accessibility to health care services followed by “good” (19.0%) and “poor” (13.0%). Conclusion: To improve the accessibility of the End-Stage Renal Disease patients to the health care services of a specialized hospital, associated problems must be overcome by effective measures and program interventions.

Practice of COVID-19 Preventive Measures and its Associated Factors among the Undergraduate Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: The COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease with serious public health consequences. Appropriate practice of preventive measures and adherence to it play an essential role in reducing infection rates and controlling the spread of the disease.&#x0D; Objectives: This study aimed to assess the practices of COVID-19 preventive measures and its associated factors among the undergraduate medical students at Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital.&#x0D; Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 25 July 2021 to 25 December 2021 among the medical students at Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital, Morang, Nepal. The complete enumeration of 146 medical students were carried out. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee at Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital. A semi-structured questionnaire using Google forms was used for data collection. Univariate and bivariate analysis were done. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.&#x0D; Results: The mean score for practices of preventive measures towards COVID-19 was 16.58±2.73. More than half of the participants (54.1%) adopted good practices. The most frequently performed practice was wearing face masks when going outside the home (98.6%), followed by hand washing using soap and water for at least 20 seconds regularly (96.6%) and covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing with a tissue paper/a disposable handkerchief (96.6%). Moreover, most of the participants used alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water were not available (95.2%), stayed at home when they felt flu-like symptoms (95.2%), visited the nearest health facility when getting sick (95.2%), and avoided close contact with sick individuals with flu-like symptoms (93.2%). Age, gender, ethnicity, religion, marital status, academic year, average monthly family income, any health insurance and vaccination status were not significantly associated with the practice of COVID-19 preventive measures.&#x0D; Conclusion: More than half of the participants adopted good practices of preventive measures towards COVID-19. Lower practice scores among medical students is the matter of concern.

Obesity and its Determinants among the Children with Bronchial Asthma

Childhood Asthma is a major health problem and obesity is a grave consequence of its treatment among the children. The cross sectional study was conducted among 104 children with Bronchial Asthma at the outpatient department of National Asthma Centre, Dhaka during the period January to June, 2012 to determine obesity and its determinants among the children with Bronchial Asthma. Data were collected through face-to-face interview and reviewing medical records by using a semi-structured questionnaire and checklist respectively. Majority (67.0%) of the asthmatic children was male and the mean age of the children was 11.5 (+4.075) years. Most (88.5%) of them were Muslim and majority (54.8%) had 5-7 family members with average family size 4.84 (+23.1). Average monthly family income was Tk.19750.00 (10233.915). Among the children 65.4% had family history of asthma and majority was fathers (30.9%). Majority (63.7%) of children performed physical exercise and majority (45.5%) did for 30 minutes. Aggravating factors for asthma included cold exposure (50.0%), hot weather (48.1%), dust exposure (36.5%) and allergy (13.5%). Majority (67.3%) attended to Government hospitals and doctors chamber (61.5%) for treatment. Regarding food habit, majority (51.9%) were fond of meat followed by fast food (24.0%), sweet food (21.2%), and soft drinks (17.3%). Regarding obesity 11.5% children were overweight, 15.4% were class 1 (moderate) obese and 54.0% had family history of obesity. Drugs used by the children were montelukast (59.6%), theophylline (59.6%), steroid (42.3%), ketotifen (23.1%) and salbutamol (32.7%). Most (98%) children used the drugs for 2-12 months. Overweight and obesity were significantly (2, p 0.01) higher among users of steroid (54.5%), montelukast (35.5%), ketotifen (79.2%) and salbutamol (67.6%) than non-users of steroid (6.6%), montelukast (14.2%), ketotifen (11.3%) and salbutamol (7.2%). Obesity was significantly (2, p 0.01) higher among who had family .........

Reproductive Autonomy of Women in Rural Bangladesh

Introduction: Reproductive autonomy confers a women's decision and controls over, matters related to contraceptive use, pregnancy, and childbearing. Rural women of Bangladesh have very little control to shape up their family with their minimum empowerment and are lagging behind in the practice of use of family planning methods. Objective: To find out the association among rural women’s reproductive autonomy and contraceptive behavior. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 284 married rural women of reproductive aged in Mohammadpur upazilla, Magura district of Bangladesh from June 2016 to December 2016 selected through simple random sampling. Mixed method approach was introduced for data collection through face to face interview using pretested questionnaire and focused group discussion. Results: Mean age of the respondents was 26.5±5.7 years with the range of 17 to 45 years. Average monthly family income was 12,561 Taka where majority of the respondents were housewives (83.8%). Education status above primary level was recorded in 23.6%. Early marriage was highly prevalent (77.5%) and mean age of marriage was 17.2±1.7 years. Mean parity was 2.3 per woman. Only 31% of the respondent found to have well reproductive autonomy. Contraceptive use was prevalent in 61.9% of the respondents and only educated women seen to have chance to participate in family planning decision-making. Male participation in contraceptive use was negligible but still men were in main role to give it the final shape to decide about family planning. Women’s reproductive autonomy found to be significantly associated with their contraceptive behavior (p&lt;0.05). Educational status of the women and age gap with the spouse were significantly associated with their reproductive autonomy (p&lt;0.05). Conclusion: Gender issues were prominent in family planning in rural community and rural women accepted the gender disparity in silence. Policy makers and family planning stake holders should put maximum endeavor to improve women’s reproductive autonomy to strengthen their negotiating capacity in fertility control. JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 17, No 1 (June) 2021: 30-34

Child Day Care Center Use and Mental Stress of Working Mothers

Background: Some of the working mothers use child day care center (CDCC) for their children to reduce their mental stress. This study was designed to assess the association between mental stress of working mothers and child day care center use. Methods: This comparative cross sectional study was conducted among 106 working mothers of whom 53 were CDCC users and 53 were non-users from January to December, 2019. Data were collected by face to face interview by a semi-structured questionnaire. Mental stress was estimated by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Quality control checks for data were done. All ethical issues were maintained strictly in different stages of the study and informed written consent was taken from each individual. Results: Mean (±SD) age was 32.92(± 2.901) and 33.55(± 3.160) years in CDCC users and non-users respectively. Average monthly family income was Tk.191698.11 in CDCC users and Tk. 209433.96 in non-users. Majority (67.9%) of the CDCC users lived in nuclear family while 67.9% of the CDCC non-users lived in joint family. Mothers had significantly higher (85.5%) stress who had maid servant in comparison to mothers who had not and mothers had higher (75.0%) stress who suffered from illness compared to mothers who did not suffer and it was significant (p&lt;0.05). Both low (61.5%) and moderate (59.4%) stress were significantly higher among CDCC users while high stress (83.3%) was significantly higher among CDCC non-users. Chance of having low stress was high (OR=8.0) in mothers who were CDCC users than mothers who were CDCC non-users. Conclusion: CDCC non-users had high level of mental stress than the CDCC users. CDCC should be established with every organization to reduce the mental stress of working mothers. JOPSOM 2021; 40(1): 59-65

An Empirical Study on Impact of COVID-19 on Mobile Financial Service and Saving Practices: The Case of Bangladesh

The world is passing a grievous phase because of a fast-spreading disease named COVID-19. Almost all countries have experienced the impact of coronavirus on their economy. Unexpectedly, due to that situation some industries like retail chain shops, online grocery shops, Mobile financial service, IT firms are experiencing growth in Bangladesh. Mobile financial service is relatively new concept but a fast-growing industry in our country. But there are some issues that MFS users face, especially rural people. History of economics shows that countries that succeeded in accumulating high levels of domestic investment largely financed by domestic savings, achieved faster rates of economic growth and development. So, understanding peoples saving behaviour is crucial. Therefore, this paper focused on finding the impact of COVID-19 on saving practice of mobile financial service users of rural area as economic growth and development depend on a country’s level of domestic savings. To fully understand the situation the researchers aimed to find the answers to some key questions: (1) Did mobile financial service reach to rural people in this pandemic? (2) Did saving rate increased during pandemic? (3) What is the impact of mobile financial service on saving behavior of people? (4) What are the key determinants of saving practices of mobile banking users? Both descriptive and advanced statistical analysis has been used for analyzing the data and a cross sectional survey on user of mobile financial services has been performed. The study area was three subdistricts (Phulbaria, Nandail, Gouripur) of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh. A two-stage sampling technique was used for data collection. First three villages were chosen from the three selected sub-districts. Then, convenient villages were surveyed for collecting information through primary survey. Simple random sampling method has been used in selecting sample and collecting data from the respondent. A total of 210 users was interviewed from the selected areas. Statistical package SPSS was used for data analysis. Researchers found that mobile financial service industry has significantly grown during pandemic but the saving practices of rural people have decreased. Age, occupation, regularity of income, average monthly family income, saving habit, monthly income during pandemic are the significant factors of the saving practices of mobile banking users. The government should encourage rural residents to save more in formal than informal channel and should emphasis on Mobile Financial Service industry as it can be the answer to the economic problem.

Postpartum Health Care Seeking Behaviour among the Rural Women in Bangladesh

Introduction: Pregnancy and childbirth is an important event in the life cycle of women and their health during this period is very much vital for the mother and children. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of a country is an important indicator of the overall health status of mother. Objectives: To assess the health care seeking behaviour of postnatal women in rural Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at Chaturia in Dhamrai upazilla of Dhaka district from January 2019 to March 2019 among purposively selected 196 rural women of reproductive age who had at least one living child. Data were collected by face-to-face interview using pretested questionnaire. Results: Among 196 respondents average monthly family income was 12561 Taka with SD of 10462 taka. Majority of them were housewives and about two-third (64.8%) were educated above secondary level. 70.9% respondents had their delivery of last child in a government health care center and 37.8% deliveries were conducted by nurses which was followed by government doctors (36.2%). Majority (62.2%) had their health checkup within 42 days, 59.2% of them had checkup for three or more times and the checkup were done by government doctors (60.2%). 47.1% of the respondents experienced high grade fever as postpartum complication. Statistically significant association (p&lt;0.05) were revealed between age group of the respondents with health personnel conducted deliveries and also between educational level of the respondents with place of delivery of last child. Conclusion: Awareness, motivation and infrastructural development play a vital role in utilizing the government healthcare services by the postnatal women in rural Bangladesh. JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 16, No 2 (December) 2020: 80-83