| 1. |
- Shariful Islam, Md, et al.
(författare)
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Cigarette smoking and associated factors among men in five South Asian countries: A pooled analysis of nationally representative surveys
- 2022
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PLoS. - 1932-6203. ; 17:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Smoking is one of the leading causes of premature deaths worldwide. The cigarette is the commonest form of tobacco smoking. This study investigated the factors associated with cigarette smoking among men in five South Asian countries. We analyzed nationally representative cross-sectional study (Demographic and Health Survey) data conducted in Afghanistan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan from 2015–2018. Our study population was men aged between 15 and 49 years. The outcome variable was the prevalence of cigarette smoking. We performed both pooled and country-specific analyses using multivariable logistic regression. The prevalence of cigarette smoking among men is the highest (41.2%) in the Maldives and the lowest (20.1%) in Pakistan. Our pooled analysis found that higher age, lower education, lower wealth status, and involvement in any occupations were strongly associated with cigarette smoking (p-value <0.001). However, we did not find a significant association between age and wealth status in Afghanistan, occupations in Nepal and Pakistan, and education in Pakistan with cigarette smoking when country-specific analyses were performed. In this study, socioeconomic position, age, and urban area are strongly associated with cigarette smoking in South Asian countries. The country-specific circumstances should be considered in planning and designing national smoking control strategies and interventions. However, improving access to smoking cessation services could be an effective intervention for all studied countries, Afghanistan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan.
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| 2. |
- Sizear, Monaemul Islam, et al.
(författare)
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Coping with COVID-19 Pandemic and Sustained Health Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh
- 2023
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Ingår i: Epidemiologia. - : MDPI. - 2673-3986. ; 4:4, s. 85-93
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s health behavioral changes have been transposed into a new dimension. Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic may have an impact on sustained health behavior (SHB). Therefore, this study aimed to explore the validity and reliability of the COVID-19 Coping Scale among working-age individuals and to assess whether coping with COVID-19-related stress could influence SHB in this population. A cross-sectional study was conducted based on the population of the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh. A total of 263 working-age individuals (19–65 years) participated in the study. The present study results confirmed the COVID-19 Coping Scale was a valid and reliable instrument for this population. Moreover, the present finding indicated decreased odds of SHB for individuals who rated lower scores on coping with COVID-19 compared to individuals who rated higher scores; the result remained significant after controlling for gender and education (OR 0.68, 95% CI: 0.54–0.87). The present study suggests two important findings: (i) the instrument used in this study was valid and reliable in this population, and (ii) coping with COVID-19-related stress may be an important aspect of practicing SHB. Policymakers may use the highlighted findings to facilitate sustainable health behavior for long-term health benefits and to tackle future pandemics like COVID-19 or in a similar context.
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| 3. |
- Sizear, Monaemul Islam, et al.
(författare)
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Urgent need to address increasing caesarean section rates in lower-middle-income countries like Bangladesh
- 2024
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Global Women's Health. - : Frontiers. - 2673-5059. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cesarean section (CS) delivery has substantially increased globally over the past few decades (1). The prevalence of CS worldwide has increased from about 16 million in 2000 to 29.7 million in 2020 (2). Data from 2010 to 2018 covering 154 countries and a total of 94.5% of world live births show that 21.1% of women have given birth by CS (3). This escalating trend has been observed in all regions, particularly low- and middle-income countries from Eastern and Southern Asia and Northern Africa, indicating a sharp increase of 44.9% and 31.5%, respectively, and the trend has emerged as a critical global health concern (3). The prevalence of CS increased by 27% in Bangladesh during the past decade (i.e., 18% in 2011 to 45% in 2022) (4), which is a much higher figure compared to neighboring countries such as India (14%), Pakistan (14%), and Nepal (4%) (5). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (6), CS rates between 10% and 15% are considered an acceptable standard. This means that CS rates in Bangladesh are threefold higher than WHO’s acceptable standard, which is alarming for maternal health, newborns, families, and the healthcare system. More specifically, the CS rate in Bangladesh is higher among mothers who live in urban areas (36.9%) than among mothers who live in rural areas (17.9%) (7). Regarding divisional levels, the rate of CS delivery is the highest in Khulna (35.2%), followed by Dhaka (32.9%), Rajshahi (28%), Chattogram (20.1%), Barishal (19.90%), Rangpur (19.50%), and Sylhet (13.30%) (7).The present opinion article aims to explore the primary reasons for the dramatic increase in CS delivery in Bangladesh and proposes evidence-based recommendations for reducing the rate of unnecessary CS.
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