Background. Improving maternal mortality attracts considerable interest with the critical invention through institutional delivery services (IDS) in reducing maternal death during delivery and ensuring safe childbirth. The influence of both individual and community-level factors is essential to using IDS. Problem Statement. Maternal death may occur at any time, but delivery without designated healthcare is by far the most dangerous time for both woman and her baby. Therefore, to combat the global burden of maternal mortality, it is necessary to ensure IDS worldwide. Objectives. This study explores the current knowledge of individual and community-level covariates and examines their extent of influence on the utilization of IDS in Bangladesh. Methods. Utilizing Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) data, this study has used two-level random intercept binary logistic regression, together with the average annual rate of increase (AARI) in the utilization of IDS and related variables. Results. This study found appreciable changes in seeking IDS, increases from 3.4% in 2007 to 51.9% in 2017, and half of the total deliveries (51%) took place in healthcare. About 26% of the total variation in the utilization of IDS is owing to differences across communities. Further, covariates including communities with higher educated women, higher utilization of ANC and access to media and at individual level, religion, maternal and parental education, wealth index, and mother-level factors (i.e., age at birth, BMI, occupation, ANC visit, birth order, own health care decision, pregnancy intention, and exposure to media) showed significant association with the utilization of IDS. Conclusion. This study observed the association between individual and community-level factors and IDS uptake. Thus, any future strategies must address individual level and community-level challenges and undertake a multisectoral approach to enhance the uptake of IDS.

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PurposeMosquito problem per se arises with diverse weather patterns. With regard to mosquito diseases, people intrinsically use repellents regardless of the harmful effect. The use of repellents like coil, spray, liquid vaporizer and mosquito cream triggers indoor congestion, and thereby respiratory diseases. Eventually, people have to bear high out-of-pocket costs.Design/methodology/approachThis study has applied a stratified systematic sampling technique taking 120 adult individuals from residential and slum areas covering users and non-users of mosquito repellents of Khulna city, Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire has been used to collect data from respondents.FindingsEconometric techniques are exercised to examine the occurrence, severity and duration of different respiratory diseases. Results exhibit that poor and less-educated slum people are more prone to face respiratory diseases compared to residential people. The health cost of slum and residential people is estimated US$ 134 and US$ 9, respectively.Originality/valueFinally, this study underpins arranging public health programs and taking averting actions as an impetus to raise consciousness toward the negative health effect of using mosquito repellents.

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Parents’ awareness regarding child health has a significant influence on physical and psychological issues. This study aims to explore the implication of parents’ behavior and attitude on the mental and physical health status of secondary education level children. A total of 130 respondents (either father or mother) is selected using the snowball sampling technique from Khulna City Corporation (KCC), Bangladesh. This study has applied Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) techniques for analyzing data. Results reveal that household structure (joint or nuclear) have significant implications in shaping the physical and mental health status of children. A poor level of parental awareness and care may lead children into depression and impede their mental growth. However, regression results postulate that parents’ awareness and spending more time with children is significantly related to the physical and mental fitness of their children which in turn keeps them on the right track. This study has predominantly explored to what extent parents' awareness matters for improving child physical and mental health status. Thus, parents’ awareness regarding child healthcare issues is indispensable.