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BackgroundWhile studies on fertility and contraceptives issues are available, until recently adolescent motherhood has not received enough attention among policy makers in understanding adolescent motherhood in Bangladesh. We aimed to examine the trends and determinants of adolescent motherhood among women aged 15–49 years.MethodsFor trend analysis we used all the 7 waves of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS, 1993–2014) data but for multivariate analysis 4 waves of BDHS (2004–2014). Two separate analyses were carried out on ever married women aged 15–49: (1) teenage girls aged 15–19 and (2) adult women aged 20 and above.ResultsThe prevalence of adolescent motherhood had declined to a slower pace from 1993 to2014 (from 33.0% to 30.8%). Lower spousal age gap and higher education were found to be associated with lower likelihood of adolescent motherhood both among teenage girls [OR 0.447 (0.374–0.533)] and adult women [OR 0.451 (0.420–0.484)]. Teenage girls in the poorest wealth quintile [OR 1.712 [1.350–2.173] were more likely to experience adolescent motherhood than the richest wealth quintile. Teenage girls who had no education were found to have 2.76 times higher odds of adolescent motherhood than their counterparts who had higher than secondary education. Concerning the time effect, the odds of adolescent motherhood among adult women was found to decline overtime.ConclusionsDespite substantial decrease in total fertility rate in Bangladesh adolescent motherhood is still highly prevalent though declining from 1993 to 2014. Social policies including those addressing poverty, ensuring greater emphasis on education for women; and adolescent mothers in rural areas are needed.

On the basis of our meta-analysis, we conclude that laparoscopic and open repair of incisional hernia is comparable. A larger randomized controlled multicenter trial with strict inclusion and exclusion criteria and standardized techniques for both repairs is required to demonstrate the superiority of one technique over the other.

This study aimed at identifying the level of HIV-related discriminatory attitudes and related factors in a purposively-selected sample of healthcare workers (HCWs) in Bangladesh. In total, 526 HCWs from a number of hospitals and healthcare centres were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. A moderate level of discriminatory attitudes was observed. The factors associated with a high level of such attitudes among the HCWs were: high level of irrational fear about HIV and AIDS; working in teaching hospital rather than in non-teaching hospital and diagnostic centres; low level of education; and being male. The results indicate that programmes to reduce irrational fear about transmission of HIV are urgently needed.

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