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Maternal health-seeking behavior is not only a crucial public health issue but also a serious women's health concern in Bangladesh. The present study examines the relationship between couples' socioeconomic status and maternal health-seeking behavior in comparison of rural areas and urban communities in Bangladesh. Based on the research objectives, it included 95 rural and 95 urban couples (total 190 couples) randomly selected from purposively selected rural areas and urban communities in Thakurgaon District (north western area of Bangladesh). Results of the present study indicate that the rate of illiteracy was higher in rural sites than in the urban communities (rural: husbands - 25.26% and wives - 13.69%; urban: husbands - 5.26% and wives - 10.52%). The main occupation in rural areas is agriculture for husbands (48.42%) and home making for wives (84.21%) compared to 36.84% urban husbands in services and 75.79% wives in home making. By income, most of the rural couples (47.37%) earn less than Tk. 2000 per month compared to 1.05% in urban area. Data also indicates that 47.37% of rural women did not have medical check-ups during the pregnancy period, 73.69% gave birth at home and 68.42% used a traditional birth attendant (TBA) compared to 20.0%, 38.94% and 33.69% in the urban communities, respectively. The data analysis explores that, both in rural and urban communities, the low rate of maternal health-seeking behavior (e.g., no check-up, child birth at home, and traditional birth attendant) was higher among the husbands with illiteracy, wives only engaged in home-making jobs, and the couples earning less than Bangladesh taka 2000 (1 USD = 83 BDT in currency exchange) in a month. The findings suggest that education, income and particularly women's employment or women's engagement in income generating activities should be taken into account in addressing maternal health issues in Bangladesh. Keywords: Socioeconomic status, Maternal health-seeking behavior, Rural site, Urban community, Bangladesh, Introduction Maternal health-seeking behavior is a serious public health issue in Bangladesh and worldwide. Globally about 830 women die each day due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth (WHO, 2016). [...]

Gender ideology has long been a discussed issue in the field of social science, particularly gender studies. This study aims to explore the category of people's gender ideology toward their family and societal responsibilities in rural Bangladesh. Following a mixed-methods approach, this study interviewed 400 rural people (200 men and 200 women, between 18 and 50 years) and conducted two FGDs from eight cluster villages at Paba Upazila of Rajshahi District in Bangladesh. The result shows that people were liberal in the context of household chores and decisions (strongly agreed to share taking care of an infant, housekeeping/cooking, and freedom of choice in taking matrimonial decisions) but traditional and transitional in acceptance of male privilege and preferences for female privilege respectively. This study argues that patriarchal adherence is reflected in people's gender ideology. Our study results suggest better awareness of rural people to transform their traditional gender ideology in the family and societal responsibilities in Bangladesh. These findings add new knowledge about the gender ideology of rural people and contribute as a prior field to promote liberal attitudes among both men and women in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is the most common pediatric renal disease. Immune dysregulation, prolonged immunosuppressive treatment, and recurrent prolonged proteinuria in NS cause alterations in serum immunoglobulins, especially hypogammaglobulinemia. Thus, anti-HBs titer may be reduced in NS patients. We assessed anti-HBs titer among hepatitis B-vaccinated children with NS. Methods: This case-control study was conducted at the Department of Paediatrics of the Institute of Child & Mother Health, Dhaka, from July 2020 to June 2021. Sixty-one children with primary and recurrent NS previously vaccinated according to the expanded programme on immunization program were evaluated for anti-HBs titer and compared with 61 age- and sex-matched healthy children. Results: Protective anti-HBs titer was found in 29(47.5%) and 40(65.6%) cases in the case and control groups, respectively. The mean anti-HBs titer was 37.2±35.5 IU/L in the case group and 55.7±28.3 IU/L in the control group, which showed a significant difference between the groups. The mean anti-HBs titer was 52.9±35.5 IU/L in the first attack, 33.9±36.8 IU/L in the infrequent relapse nephrotic syndrome (IFRNS), and 22.2±27.41 IU/L in the frequent relapse nephrotic syndrome (FRNS), respectively. The difference was also significant statistically. The mean anti-HBs titer was lower in the FRNS and IFRNS and significant in the FRNS compared to the first attack. The mean anti-HBs titer was significantly (P<0.05) lower in the IFRNS and FRNS compared to the controls. Conclusion: Anti-HBs titer was found significantly lower than the protective level in the first attack and relapse cases of NS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glomerulocystic kidney disease (GCKD) is characterized by cystic dilatation of the Bowman's capsule and adjacent tubules. It is a rare form of cystic kidney disease and can occur at any age. Sometimes GCKD may not be differentiated from other cystic kidney diseases. It usually presents with renal failure. Here, we reported a case of a four-year-old girl presented with end-stage renal disease who had glomerulocystic kidney disease in renal histopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative trend of enrolment of Indigenous students into tertiary study indicates gaps between their current achievement and knowledge levels and university requirements for admission. This study was designed to determine the perceived needs, attitudes and knowledge of Indigenous secondary school students when considering admission to university; investigate remedial strategies in order to make university a more attractive choice for Indigenous students; and ascertain the types of assistance and support the Indigenous students would like to receive in order to meet the enrolment requirements as well as completion of study at university. Focus groups were conducted with 50 Indigenous students in Years 10 to 12 within the Toowoomba District and surveys conducted with 30 first year Indigenous undergraduate and Indigenous Higher Education Pathways Program (IHEPP) students at the University of Southern Queensland. The findings of the research illustrated that the school students were not aware of the IHEPP and university programs. Scholarships and bursaries need to be developed and publicised. Tutorial assistance and learning support (e.g., assignment preparation, multicultural activities, childcare facilities, group accommodation) needs to be promoted. Furthermore, there is a need for the university to establish and maintain relationships with local Indigenous communities and understand the "cultural dimension" impacting on Indigenous students and their families. (Contains 1 table.)

Previous studies on intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in Bangladesh rarely focused on the effectiveness of primary prevention strategies like legal remedies. There is also a lack of studies on the issues among the ethnic minority communities in the country. This study examines the awareness of laws on IPV (such as recognizing the abusive acts and knowing the sanctions) among the ethnic Garo and Santal and mainstream Bengali communities in rural Bangladesh. The study randomly included 1929 married women and men from 24 villages. It appeared that the respondents were not adequately aware of the relevant legal provisions. There were also gender and ethnic differences in the issues. On average, the respondents maintained a low score on recognizing abusive acts. The awareness was further lower among the women compared to the men. In addition, multivariate analysis indicated that the Bengali women had relatively a better understanding of the issues than the Garo and Santal women. However, the Garo men showed poorer awareness of recognizing the abusive acts than the Bengali and Santal men. On the other hand, the respondents also maintained a very insufficient knowledge of the sanctions against such abusive acts, whereas women also showed a lower awareness compared to their male counterparts. Data further revealed that the Santal women had a more inadequate understanding of the issues than the Bengali and Garo women. However, the Garo men had more awareness of the sanctions than the Bengali and Santal men. The study reveals that people are unfamiliar with the laws governing IPV. It shows that understanding legal issues is another field of gender and ethnic inequality in the country. We suggest that there should be intervention to make aware the citizen, mainly women of all ethnicities, to ensure the efficacy of the laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]