There is a dearth of published literature that demonstrates the impact and effectiveness of school-based oral health education (OHE) program in Bangladesh and it is one of the most neglected activities in the field of public health. Keeping this in mind, the objectives of this study were to assess the effectiveness of OHE program in: 1) increasing oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices and 2) decreasing the prevalence of untreated dental caries among 6–8 grade school students in Bangladesh. This intervention study was conducted in Araihazar Thana, Narayanganj district, Bangladesh during April 2012 to March 2013. The total participants were 944 students from three local schools. At baseline, students were assessed for oral health knowledge, attitude and practices using a self-administered structured questionnaire and untreated dental caries was assessed using clinical examination. Follow up study was done after 6 months from baseline. McNemar’s chi-square analysis was used to evaluate the impact of OHE program on four recurrent themes of oral health between the baseline and follow-up. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the impact of the intervention group on our outcome variables. Significant improvement was observed regarding school aged adolescents’ self-reported higher knowledge, attitude and practices scores (p < 0.001) at follow-up compared with baseline. The prevalence of untreated dental caries of the study population after the OHE program was significantly (p < 0.01) reduced to 42.5 %. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that the OHE intervention remained a significant predictor in reducing the risk of untreated dental caries (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.51; 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 0.37, 0.81). In the follow-up period participants were 2.21 times (95 % CI = 1.87, 3.45) more likely to have higher level of knowledge regarding oral health compared to baseline. Compared with baseline participants in the follow-up were 1.89 times (95 % CI = 1.44–2.87) more likely to have higher attitude towards oral health. In addition, OHE intervention was found to be significantly associated with higher level of practices toward oral health (AOR = 1.64; 95 % CI = 1.12, 3.38). This study indicated that OHE intervention was effective in increasing i) knowledge, ii) attitude, and iii) practices towards oral health; it also significantly reduced the prevalence of untreated dental caries among school aged adolescents from grade 6–8 in a deprived rural area of Bangladesh.

This article establishes the hypothesis that predisposing, enabling and household needs influence the complete vaccination status of children. Data from the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (N= 3530) was used. The data was analyzed using descriptive and multiple logistic regression methods. Approximately 60% of the children in rural Bangladesh were fully immunized. The full vaccination rate increased with an increase in the previous birth interval and the education level of the mother. Women with the highest wealth index were significantly more likely to fully immunize their children. Distance from health facility, parity, mother's age, mass media, children's sex and tetanus toxoid injection were also significantly positively associated with full vaccination. Findings reflect that, irrespective of need, only children from higher economic or educational groups can afford to be fully vaccinated in rural Bangladesh. In other words, predisposing, enabling and need factors appear to have a strong association with full immunization coverage.

This article addresses the hypothesis that predisposing, enabling and need factors of households influence utilisation of postpartum care among the young mothers according to the timing and type of providers. To reach our goal Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey of 2007 data (n = 2376) were used. Findings revealed that only one-third of the young mothers received postpartum care. Postpartum care by medically trained personnel and within the most critical period (within 48 h after delivery) was found to be very low (25.5 and 16.6%). Regarding postpartum morbidities, only one-fifth to one-half of the women reporting a complication consulted medically trained providers. Indeed, between one third and two thirds did not seek any postpartum care. The highest percentages contacting healthcare providers were for convulsions and the lowest was when the baby's hands or feet came first. The stronger influence of the mother's education and antenatal care on the utilisation of postpartum care is consistent with findings from other studies. Concern of the husband or family about pregnancy complications showed a significant and positive impact on the utilisation of postpartum care. Multivariate analysis showed that mother's age at delivery, residence, education, antenatal care, place of delivery, wealth, husband's occupation, husband's concern about pregnancy complications and mother's permission to go to a health centre alone were likely to affect utilisation of postpartum care services. The results indicate urgent needs in Bangladesh for an awareness-raising program highlighting the importance and availability of postpartum care; for strategies to improve the availability and accessibility of antenatal care services and skilled birth attendance, including focused financial support; for women's education to be given high priority; and to enable women to exercise their rights to control their freedom of movement, own health care and access to economic resources.

Although low socioeconomic status (SES) is related to poor glycemic control, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We examined potentially modifiable factors involved in the association between low SES and poor glycemic control using data from the baseline survey of a multicenter, prospective cohort study. Five hundred adult type 2 diabetes patients were recruited from three diabetes centers. Glycemic control was poorer in diabetic individuals with low SES than in those with higher SES. Adverse health-related behaviors, such as non-adherence to medication (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04–1.13) and diet (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.02–1.06); existing comorbidities, such as depressive symptoms (AOR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.04–1.09); and non-adherence to essential health service-related practices concerning diabetes care, such as irregular scheduled clinic visits (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.03–1.06) and not practicing self-monitoring of blood glucose (AOR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.03–1.07), mediated the relationship between social adversity and poor glycemic control specially in urban areas of Bangladesh. Those identified factors provide useful information for developing interventions to mitigate socioeconomic disparities in glycemic control.

We aimed to examine whether an association exists between maternal high-risk fertility behavior and chronic undernutrition among children under 5 y of age. In addition, we explored the relationship between poverty and high-risk fertility behavior and the relative roles they play as obstacles in the reduction of the risk of undernutrition among children. The analysis was based on responses from married women ages 15 to 49 who lived with at least one child under the age of 5; and three cross-sectional, nationally representative samples from India, Bangladesh, and Nepal were considered. Maternal high-risk fertility behavior was associated with an increased risk of chronic undernutrition among children in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Multiple high-risk categories appeared to have more profound consequences on the outcomes measured. Findings also demonstrated that with regard to the risk of undernutrition, children of mothers who were either poor or who experienced high-risk fertility were not uniquely disadvantaged. The results suggest that with regard to the risk of chronic undernutrition, the negative effect of high-risk fertility behavior extends across all economic backgrounds and is not limited to children of mothers who were either poor or who experienced high-risk fertility.