The Influence of Women’s Empowerment on Health-seeking Behavior: Findings from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey
TOTAL VIEWS: 222
Abstract
Women empowerment is a pertinent subject to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Bangladesh. Considering the facets health seeking information is one of the most predominant indicators available. The purpose of the study is to identify the levels and patterns of women empowerment in terms of healthcare seeking behavior in Bangladesh based on the data of BDHS 2014. A combination of Cross tabulation and logistic regression analysis were carried to find out the women empowerment regarding health care seeking behavior. Ac-cording to the results around 64.1% women were empowered (either by their own means or collectively with their spouses) to determine their own healthcare seeking and about 70.7% in their children’s healthcare seeking. Place of residence, age group, educational qualification of woman, NGO activities, media exposure, wealth index and woman engaging with economy are more empowered in decision-making for both own and children’s health care aspect. Women must be empowered to emancipate themselves in health information in order to boost their self- confidence, to access information, to succeed in addressing obstacles to life, to feel strong about health problems and disabilities, and to learn more in-formation.
Keywords
Physical load; overload; fatigue; nitric oxide; calpains; calcium; myokines; in-flammatory
References
[1] Abada T, Tenkorang EY. Women’s autonomy and unintended pregnancies in the Philippines. J Biosoc Sci. 2012;44(6):703-18.
[2] Ashraf J, Ashraf B. Estimating the gender wage gap in Rawalpindi city. J Dev Stud. 1993;29(3):365-76.
[3] Baker DP, Salinas D, Eslinger PJ. An envisioned bridge: Schooling as a neurocognitive developmental institution. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2012;2 Suppl 1:S6-S17.
[4] Cameron L, Schulz PJ, Nakamoto K. Differential effects of health knowledge and health empowerment over patients’ self-management and health outcomes: a cross-sectional evaluation. Patient Educ Couns. 2012;89(2):337-44.
[5] Chant SH. Gender, generation and poverty: exploring the feminization of poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing; 2007.
[6] Chaudhry IS, Faridi MZ, Anjum S. The Effects of Health and Education on Female Earnings: Empirical Evidence from District Vehari. Pak J Soc Sci. 2010;30(1):109-24.
[7] Cline RJ, Haynes KM. Consumer health information seeking on the Internet: the state of the art. Health Educ Res. 2001;16(6):671-92.
[8] Conner KO, Copeland VC, Grote NK, et al. Mental health treatment seeking among older adults with depression: the impact of stigma and race. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010;18(6):531-43.
[9] Elo IT. Utilization of maternal health-care services in Peru: the role of women’s education. Health Transit Rev. 1992;2(1):49-69.
[10] Faridi MZ, Chaudhry IS, Anwar M. The socioeconomic and demographic determinants of women work participation in Pakistan: evidence from Bahawalpur District. South Asian Stud. 2009;24(2):351-67.
[11] Fiedler JL. A review of the literature on access and utilization of medical care with special emphasis on rural primary care. Soc Sci Med. 1981;15C(2):129-42.
[12] Greenaway ES, Leon J, Baker DP. Understanding the association between maternal education and use of health services in Ghana: exploring the role of health knowledge. J Biosoc Sci. 2012;44(6):733-47.
[13] Hausmann R, Tyson LD, Zahidi S. The Global Gender Gap Report 2011. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum; 2011.
[14] Hermansson E, Mårtensson L. Empowerment in the midwifery context—a concept analysis. Midwifery. 2011;27(6):811-6.
[15] Holmström I, Röing M. The relation between patient-centeredness and patient empowerment: a discussion on concepts. Patient Educ Couns. 2010;79(2):167-72.
[16] Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S. Applied Logistic Regression. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1989.
[17] Husain Z, Mukerjee D, Dutta M. Are women self-help group members economically more empowered in leftrun municipalities? Dev Pract. 2013;23(1):107-22.
[18] Kabeer N. Gender equality and women's empowerment: a critical analysis of the third millennium development goal. Gend Dev. 2005;13(1):13-24.
[19] Koenig MA, Jamil K, Streatfield PK, Saha T, Al-Sabir A, Arifeen SE. Maternal health and care-seeking behavior in Bangladesh: findings from a national survey. Int Fam Plan Perspect. 2007;33(4):179-85.
[20] Lee-Rife SM. Women’s empowerment and reproductive experiences over the lifecourse. Soc Sci Med. 2010;71(3):634-42.
[21] LeVine RA, Rowe ML. Maternal literacy and child health in less-developed countries: evidence, processes, and limitations. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2009;30(4):340-9.
[22] Mainuddin AKM, Begum HA, Rawal LB, Islam A, Islam SMS. Women Empowerment and Its Relation with Health Seeking Behavior in Bangladesh. J Family Reprod Health. 2015;9(2):65-73.
[23] Mosedale S. Assessing women's empowerment: towards a conceptual framework. J Int Dev. 2005;17(2):243-57.
[24] National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, and ICF International. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Dhaka, Bangladesh and Rockville, Maryland, USA: NIPORT, Mitra and Associates, and ICF International; 2013.
[25] National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates, and Macro International. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007. Dhaka, Bangladesh: NIPORT, Mitra and Associates, and Macro International; 2009.
[26] Rodwell CM. An analysis of the concept of empowerment. J Adv Nurs. 1996;23(2):305-13.
[27] Sathar ZA, Kazi S. Women's autonomy in the context of rural Pakistan. Pak Dev Rev. 2000;39(2):89-110.
[28] United Nations. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform [Internet]. 2016 [accessed June 2016]. Available from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
How to cite this paper
The Influence of Women’s Empowerment on Health-seeking Behavior: Findings from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey
How to cite this paper: Md Abdul Alim Sarkar, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Md Fazle Rabbi Sujan, Abul Hossain. (2025) The Influence of Women’s Empowerment on Health-seeking Behavior: Findings from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Health and Prevention Journal, 2(1), 36-48.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/hpj.2025.12.003
More Articles
- The Influence of Women’s Empowerment on Health-seeking Behavior: Findings from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey
- Research Hotspots and Trends in Health Science Popularization in China (1994-2024): A Bibliometric Analysis Visualized with CiteSpace
- Functional and Metabolic Muscle Responses to Exercise