Background : Suicide is a public health problem too often neglected by researchers, health policy makers and the medical profession. In the year 2000, approximately one million people died of suicide which represents a global mortality rate of 16 per 100,000. According to WHO estimates for the year 2020 and based on current trends approximately 1.53 million people will die from suicide and 10-20 times more people will attempt suicide worldwide. The aim of this study was to describe the community prevalence of suicidal attempts and deaths in rural area of Bangladesh and to find out the relationship between suicide and socio-demographic variables. Study Design and Setting : A Community based survey was carried out by members of the Department of Medicine, Shaheed Suhrawardi Medical College and Hospital at Mominpur union under Sadar Upazilla of district Chuadanga. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 16. Results : A total of 3551 households were surveyed covering 12422 individuals. A total of 35 individuals attempted suicide in last one year and of them 16 died and rest of he 19 survived. One year incidence of suicidal attempt in the study area was 281.8 per thousand population and the incidence of suicidal deaths was 128.8 per 100000 population. Median age of the people attempted or committed suicide was 30.36(range12 to 70 years). Most (42.9%) suicide was attempted by people at their twenties (20–29 years). Male to female ratio was around 1:4. Around 33.3% of the people who attempted or committed suicide studied up to secondary level, 28.6% studied up to primary level. Most (55.2%) of the people who committed or attempted suicide were housewives,10.3% were daily basis worker, 6.9% were students, another 6.9% engaged in agricultural work and 3.4% were disabled. Majority (45.7%) of the people who committed or attempted suicide was of lower class, 37.1% were of lower middle class, 14.3% were of middle class and 2.9% were of upper class. Majority (82.9%) of the person attempted suicide or died of suicide were married. Around 57% had discord in the family, around 23% had at least one relative died of suicide, around 17% of them were suffering from chronic diseases. Two of them were substance abuser. One of them had preexisting mental disorder, two (5.8%) were orphan and around seven (20%) made an attempt before the current one. Conclusion: Community survey in a rural area of South-West Bangladesh revealed that suicide is a major cause of mortality, especially in young females. Although this study results were from a small population of a community, the high rate of deaths from suicide are alarming and warrants further studies in regional and national level to find out the risk factors. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jom.v13i1.10042 JOM 2012; 13(1): 3-9

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BackgroundA clear understanding of the social and behavioral risk factors, and knowledge gaps, related to exposure to malaria are essential when developing guidelines and recommendations for more effective disease prevention in many malaria endemic areas of the world including Bangladesh and elsewhere in the South East Asia. To-date, the level of knowledge that human populations, residing in moderate to high malaria risk zones, have with respect to the basic pathogen transmission dynamics, risk factors for malaria or disease preventative strategies, has not been assessed in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study was to address this gap by conducting surveys of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of people, from variable socio-demographic backgrounds, residing in selected rural malaria endemic areas in Bangladesh.MethodsThe KAP survey was conducted in portions of six different malaria endemic districts in Bangladesh from July to October 2011. The survey consisted of interviewing residence of these malaria endemic districts using a structured questionnaire and interviewers also completed observational checklists at each household where people were interviewed. The study area was further divided into two zones (1 and 2) based on differences in the physical geography and level of malaria endemicity in the two zones. Data from the questionnaires and observational checklists were analysised using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 16.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).ResultsA total of 468 individuals from individual households were interviewed, and most respondents were female. Monthly incomes varied within and among the zones. It was found that 46.4% and 41% of respondents’ family had malaria within the past one year in zones 1 and 2, respectively. Nearly 86% of the respondents did not know the exact cause of malaria or the role of Anopheles mosquitoes in the pathogen’s transmission. Knowledge on malaria transmission and symptoms of the respondents of zones 1 and 2 were significantly (p<0.01) different. The majority of respondents from both zones believed that bed nets were the main protective measure against malaria, but a significant relationship was not found between the use of bed net and prevalence of malaria. A significant relationship (p<0.05) between level of education with malaria prevalence was found in zone 1. There was a positive correlation between the number of family members and the prevalence of malaria. Houses with walls had a strong positive association with malaria. Approximately 50% of the households of zones 1 and 2 maintained that they suffered from malaria within the last year. A significant association (p<0.01) between malaria and the possession of domestic animals in their houses was found in both zones. People who spent time outside in the evening were more likely to contract malaria than those who did not.ConclusionTo address the shortcomings in local knowledge about malaria, health personnel working in malaria endemic areas should be trained to give more appropriate counseling i...

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