Levels, trends, and disparities of socio-demographic and health indicators by poorest versus richest groups of women in Bangladesh

Introduction: Monitoring levels and long-term trends of socio-demographic and health indicators are particularly important for developing countries with high economic disparities as well as for assessing the progress of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. This study assessed levels, trends and disparities of selected socio-demographic and health-related indicators among ever married women by using the data of five nationally representative and comparable surveys (in terms of sample size and study design) of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 1993–94, 1996–1997, 1999–2000, 2004 and 2007. Methods: Relevant data were extracted for some common demographic and health-related indicators using SPSS 17.0. All selected indicators (either by mean or percentage) were compared by the lowest (poorest) and highest (richest) quintiles of wealth index. Results: Indicators reflecting e.g. urbanisation, electricity possession, media access, age at first marriage, contraception, antenatal care services especially from a doctor, receiving tetanus injection before giving birth, child vaccinations (DPT/polio/measles), and overweight/obesity showed positive trends during 1993–2007. In contrast, indicators like education, fertility (e.g. children born and alive), child mortality, home delivery, and malnutrition/underweight revealed negative trends. However, increasing and decreasing paces varied by indicators and two extreme quintiles. For instance, the speed of urbanisation was very rapid only for the richest quintile but not for the poorest. Illiteracy declined in both quintiles but with higher declining pace in the lowest quintile. Although remarkable gaps were found for almost all indicators, gaps for urbanization, electricity, television, children born, condom use, and home delivery increased in 2007 as compared to 1993–94. In contrast, gaps declined for education, sterilization, and children vaccination. Conclusion: Although Bangladesh has achieved remarkable progress in socio-demographic and health sectors, gaps are still increasing between the poorest and richest women. Therefore development strategies in Bangladesh should target the poorest women to narrow the gaps of socio-demographic and health-related indicators.