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. 2022 Feb 16;17(2):e0263958.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263958. eCollection 2022.

Women empowerment and sexually transmitted infections: Evidence from Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2014

Md Abdullah Al Jubayer Biswas  1 , Mohammad Abdullah Kafi  2 , Muhammad Manwar Morshed Hemel  1 , Mondar Maruf Moin Ahmed  3 , Sharful Islam Khan  1
Affiliations

Women empowerment and sexually transmitted infections: Evidence from Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2014

Md Abdullah Al Jubayer Biswas et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among women have led to substantial public health and economic burdens in several low-middle-income countries. However, there is a paucity of scientific knowledge about the relationship between empowerment and symptoms of STIs among married Bangladeshi women. This article aimed to examine the association between women empowerment and symptoms of STIs among currently married Bangladeshi women of reproductive age.

Materials and methods: We extracted data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), conducted from June 28, 2014, to November 9, 2014. We utilised cross-tabulation, the conceptual framework and multivariable multilevel mixed-effect logistics regression to explore the association between women's empowerment indicators and women's self-reported symptoms of genital sore and abnormal genital discharge. All of the analysis was adjusted using cluster weight.

Results: We found that among 16,858 currently married women, 5.59% and 10.84% experienced genital sores and abnormal genital discharge during the past 12 months, respectively. Women who depended on husbands to make decisions regarding their health care (AOR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.67-0.84), significant household purchases (AOR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.71-0.88), and visiting family or relatives (AOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.64-0.80) were less likely to report signs of abnormal genital discharge. Women who could make joint healthcare decisions with their husbands were also less likely to report genital sores (AOR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.67-0.90).

Conclusion: Genital sores and abnormal genital discharge were prevalent across all parameters of women empowerment among currently married women in Bangladesh. Our estimates show that the husband plays a significant role in decision-making about sexual and reproductive health. Efforts need to be invested in establishing culturally relevant gender policies which facilitate the involvement of women in joint decision-making.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. A flow chart of study population selection from Bangladesh demographic health survey (BDHS) 2014.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The conceptual framework illustrating the causal pathway between women empowerment indicators and outcome of interest.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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