Tobacco consumption is common and associated positively with the illicit drug use among males in Bangladesh.

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Background: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of domestic violence by husbands against wives (DVHW) and its correlates using the data of ever married men from a national survey. Methods: This subset of ever married men (equal to 2823 if weighted and 3165 if unweighted) was extracted from 4297 men (including single) aged 14-54 years, who were interviewed during the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) in 2004. The BDHS 2004 applied a pre-tested structured questionnaire for men to collect much information including socio-demographic, life-style, violence (physical and sexual) against wives and reasons for violence. SPSS version 10 was used to perform all of the analyses. Results: The prevalence of physical, sexual and overall DVHW was 68%, 27% and 72%, respectively within the year preceding the survey. Slapping/twisting (61%) and pushing/shaking/throwing something (40%) were the most common forms of physical DVHW. Age, place of residence, education, religion and number of children showed significant associations (by odds ratio) with at least one form of violence using multiple logistic regression analysis. Both cross-tabs analysis and logistic regression analysis (adjusted for age, place of residence, education, religion and number of children) indicated a significantly higher prevalence and higher odds ratio of DVHW among those husbands who: did not watch television everyday, had experience of pre-marital and post-marital sex, smoked cigarettes/bidi, chewed tobacco and took illicit drugs. The estimates of the lifestyle variables sharply attenuated when all of the variables were included in the same model, although the significance levels were changed for only some of them. Conclusion: The high prevalence of DVHW deserves immediate attention and intervention in Bangladesh. For effective intervention, the significant correlates of DVHW, especially the lifestyle-related factors, must be taken into consideration to reduce the prevalence and consequences of DVHW in Bangladesh.

CC screening in Japan may reduce CC mortality significantly for women aged 30-79 years. However, further studies with more CC deaths and increased statistical power are needed to validate the findings.

Bangladesh has already experienced the biggest catastrophe in the world due to arsenic contamination of drinking water. This study investigates the association of drinking arsenic-contaminated water (DACW) with both personal and household characteristics of 9116 household respondents using the household data of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2004. Here DACW means that arsenic level in the drinking water is greater than the permissible limit (50 microg/l) of Bangladesh. The overall rate of DACW was 7.9%. It was found to be significantly associated with education, currently working, and division of Bangladesh, either by cross tabulation or multivariate logistic regression analyses or both. Similarly, household characteristics -- namely television, bicycle, materials of the wall and floor, total family members, number of sleeping rooms, and availability of foods -- were significantly associated in bivariate analyses. Many household characteristics -- namely electricity, television, wall and floor materials, and number of sleeping rooms -- revealed significant association in the logistic regression analysis when adjusted for age, education and division. This study indicates that respondents from Chittagong division and lower socio-economic groups (indicated by household characteristics) are at significantly higher risk of DACW. These findings should be taken into account during the planning of future intervention activities in Bangladesh.