TRENDS AND DETERMINANTS OF KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF HIV/AIDS AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN BANGLADESH: AN URBAN-RURAL COMPARISON

Mohammad S. Zahangir, University of Chittagong
Mohammed Chowdhury, Kennesaw State University
Mosammat Z. Nahar, University of Chittagong
Hafiz Khan, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at Lubbock
Mohammad Masum, Kennesaw State University

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the trends and determinants of knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among women in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. This study used data from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). A binary logistic regression model was employed to detect potential risk factors (covariates) associated the outcome variable. While women’s HIV/AIDS knowledge in rural areas has shown an increasing trend over the years in which the survey has been conducted, a narrow decline in HIV/AIDS knowledge was observed among women in urban areas in recent years. Education and mass media have played the major role in spreading knowledge about HIV/AIDS among women in both urban and rural areas. Since rural women’s HIV/AIDS knowledge score was relatively lower than that of urban women, awareness raising through mass media should focus especially on rural areas.