Objectives‘Negligence of Physicians’ and ‘Wrong Treatment’ have become commonly-used phrases in print and electronic media of Bangladesh, while violence against healthcare workers has always been under-reported. Unfortunately, there is little evidence regarding physical violence against healthcare workers, while there is no data on the magnitude of psychological violence. The objective of this study was to quantify and explore the magnitude of workplace violence in health sector of Bangladesh to guide future research and adopt preventive policies.ResultsThe Majority (96%, n = 54) of the violence cases were physical in nature and 91% violence (n = 51) took place in public healthcare settings. More than one-third (39%) of the violence cases occurred at primary healthcare level and one-third (39%) at tertiary healthcare level. It was mostly (61%) the entry-level physicians who were affected by violence. The report reveals the tip of the iceberg of workplace violence in health sector of Bangladesh. Further studies should be undertaken to assess the prevalence, magnitude, and associated factors for workplace violence against healthcare workers.

ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence of and factors associated with depression among adolescent boys and girls.DesignWe conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study.SettingThis study was carried out in 82 randomly selected clusters (57 rural, 15 non-slum urban and 10 slums) from eight divisions of Bangladesh.ParticipantsWe interviewed 4907 adolescent boys and 4949 adolescent girls.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was ‘any depression’ and the secondary outcome measures were types of depression: no or minimal, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe.ResultsThe overall prevalence of no or minimal, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression was 75.5%, 17.9%, 5,4%, 1.1% and 0.1%, respectively. Across most of the sociodemographic, lifestyle and anthropometric strata, the prevalence of any depression was higher among adolescent girls. In both sexes, depression was associated with higher age, higher maternal education, paternal occupation e.g., business, absence of a 6–9-year-old member in the household, food insecurity, household consumption of unfortified oil, household use of non-iodised salt, insufficient physical activity (adjusted odds ratio, AOR: 1.24 for boys, 1.44 for girls) and increased television viewing time e.g., ≥121 minute/day (AOR: 1.95 for boys, 1.99 for girls). Only among boys, depression was also associated with higher paternal education e.g., complete secondary and above (AOR: 1.42), absence of another adolescent member in the household (AOR: 1.34), household use of solid biomass fuel (AOR: 1.39), use of any tobacco products (AOR: 2.17), and consumption of processed food (AOR: 1.24). Only among girls, non-slum urban residence, Muslim religion, and household size ≤4 were also associated with depression.ConclusionThe prevalence of depression among adolescent boys and girls is high in Bangladesh. In most sociodemographic, lifestyle and anthropometric strata, the prevalence is higher among girls. In this age group, depression is associated with a number of sociodemographic and lyfestyle factors. The government of Bangladesh should consider these findings while integrating adolescent mental health in the existing and future programmes.

ObjectivesWe aimed to investigate the socioeconomic inequalities in the burden of underweight and overweight among children in South Asia. We also examined other factors that were associated with these outcomes independently of household’s socioeconomic status.DesignNationally-representative surveys.SettingsDemographic and Health Surveys from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal, which were conducted between 2009 and 2016.ParticipantsChildren aged 24 to 59 months with valid measurement for height and weight (n=146 996).Primary exposure and outcome measuresPrimary exposures were household’s wealth index and level of education. Underweight and overweight were defined according to the WHO and International Obesity Task Force definitions, respectively.ResultsUnderweight prevalence was 37% in Bangladesh, 38% in India, 19% in Maldives, 29% in Nepal and 28% in Pakistan. Bangladesh, India and Nepal had similar overweight prevalence (between 2% and 4%) whereas Pakistan (7%) and Maldives (9%) had higher prevalence. Households with higher wealth index or education had lower odds of having underweight children. Adjusted ORs of underweight for richest versus poorest households were 0.4 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.5), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.5 to 0.6), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.2 to 1.4), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8) and 0.7 (95% CI: 0.5 to 1.1) for Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan, respectively. Compared with poorest households, richest households were more likely to have overweight children in all countries except Pakistan, but such associations were not significant after adjustment for other factors. There were higher odds of having overweight children in households with higher education in Bangladesh (OR 2.1 (95% CI: 1.3 to 3.5)), India (OR 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2 to 1.3)) and Pakistan (OR 1.8 (95% CI: 1.1 to 2.9)) when compared with households with no education. Maternal nutritional status was consistently associated with children’s nutritional outcomes after adjustments for socioeconomic status.ConclusionsOur study provides evidence for socioeconomic inequalities for childhood underweight and overweight in South Asian countries, although the directions of associations for underweight and overweight might be different.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently developed a non-laboratory based cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk chart considering the parameters age, sex, current smoking status, systolic blood pressure, and body mass index. Using the chart, we estimated the 10-years CVD risk among the Bangladeshi population aged 40–74 years. We analyzed data from a nationally representative survey conducted in 2018–19. The survey enrolled participants from 82 clusters (57 rural, 15 non-slum urban, and 10 slums) selected by multistage cluster sampling. Using the non-laboratory-based CVD risk chart of the World Health Organization (WHO), we categorized the participants into 5 risk groups: very low (<5%), low (5% to <10%), moderate (10% to <20%), high (20% to <30%) and very high (> = 30%) risk. We performed descriptive analyses to report the distribution of CVD risk and carried out univariable and multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with elevated CVD risk (> = 10% CVD risk). Of the 7,381 participants, 46.0% were female. The median age (IQR) was 59.0 (48.0–64.7) years. Overall, the prevalence of very low, low, moderate, high, and very high CVD risk was 34.7%, 37.8%, 25.9%, 1.6%, and 0.1%, respectively. Elevated CVD risk (> = 10%) was associated with poor education, currently unmarried, insufficient physical inactivity, smokeless tobacco use, and self-reported diabetes in both sexes, higher household income, and higher sedentary time among males, and slum-dwelling and non-Muslim religions among females. One in every four Bangladeshi adults had elevated levels of CVD risk, and males are at higher risk of occurring CVD events. Non-laboratory-based risk prediction charts can be effectively used in low resource settings. The government of Bangladesh and other developing countries should train the primary health care workers on the use of WHO non-laboratory-based CVD risk charts, especially in settings where laboratory tests are not available.

Objectives Though Bangladesh is passing through demographic, epidemiologic and nutritional transitions, national estimates on nutrition and health status of the elderly population are largely unknown. We aimed to determine the status of selected health and nutrition indicators among the elderly population in Bangladesh. Methods For the first time in Bangladesh, we included elderly population (≥60 years old females and males) as a separate population group in the national food security and nutrition surveillance round 2018–2019. We collected data on dietary diversity, nutritional status, behavioral risk factors of non-communicable diseases, blood pressure, and self-reported chronic diseases from 4,818 elderly people (48% female) living in 82 clusters (57 rural, 15 non-slums urban, and 10 slums) randomly selected from eight administrative division of Bangladesh. Results Majority (59% in rural, 53% in non-slum urban, and 69% in slums) of elderly people were consuming an inadequately diverse (4 or less food groups out of 10) diet. Overall, 89% of elderly people were malnourished (20%) or at risk of malnutrition (69%). The highest prevalence of malnutrition was in Mymensingh division (37%) followed by Sylhet division (27%). The prevalence of obesity was 5%, 16%, and 11%, in rural, non-slum urban, and slums, respectively. The national prevalence of smoking, smokeless tobacco consumption, physical inactivity was 18%, 52%, and 38%, respectively. There was a high burden of hypertension (49% in rural, 53% in non-slum urban, and 39% in slums). Overall, 16% of elderly people had heart diseases, 14% had chronic respiratory diseases, 3% had kidney diseases, 9% had diabetes, 8% had stroke, 0.5% had cancer and 1.4% had mental health problems. Conclusions The government of Bangladesh should design and implement health and nutrition programs among the elderly population. The regional differences in the prevalence of health and nutrition indicators should be considered while designing such programs. Funding Sources Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh