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Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among women have led to substantial public health and economic burdens in several low-middle-income countries. However, there is a paucity of scientific knowledge about the relationship between empowerment and symptoms of STIs among married Bangladeshi women. This article aimed to examine the association between women empowerment and symptoms of STIs among currently married Bangladeshi women of reproductive age. Materials and methods: We extracted data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), conducted from June 28, 2014, to November 9, 2014. We utilised cross-tabulation, the conceptual framework and multivariable multilevel mixed-effect logistics regression to explore the association between women's empowerment indicators and women's self-reported symptoms of genital sore and abnormal genital discharge. All of the analysis was adjusted using cluster weight. Results: We found that among 16,858 currently married women, 5.59% and 10.84% experienced genital sores and abnormal genital discharge during the past 12 months, respectively. Women who depended on husbands to make decisions regarding their health care (AOR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.67–0.84), significant household purchases (AOR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.71–0.88), and visiting family or relatives (AOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.64–0.80) were less likely to report signs of abnormal genital discharge. Women who could make joint healthcare decisions with their husbands were also less likely to report genital sores (AOR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.67–0.90). Conclusion: Genital sores and abnormal genital discharge were prevalent across all parameters of women empowerment among currently married women in Bangladesh. Our estimates show that the husband plays a significant role in decision-making about sexual and reproductive health. Efforts need to be invested in establishing culturally relevant gender policies which facilitate the involvement of women in joint decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women's empowerment, education, and economic status are jointly introduced as women's 3E. A number of studies found the significant association of these three variables with maternal health outcomes, but no studies, to the best of knowledge, have been found to justify the joint influence of women's 3E on the birth interval. As several studies have revealed that the short birth interval increases the risk of adverse maternal, perinatal, and infant outcomes and it is also responsible for increasing the country's population size, more research is needed on the birth interval. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of women's 3E on the short birth interval after controlling the other selected covariates. Methods: Data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2017–18 have been used to serve the purpose of the study. To measure the birth interval, at least two live births for non-pregnant mothers and at least one live birth for currently pregnant mothers born in the 5 years before the survey were included in the study. The Chi-Square test was applied to know the unadjusted association of the selected covariates including women's 3E with the short birth interval. In order to find out the adjusted association of women's 3E with the short birth interval, sequential binary logistic regression models have been used. Results: The study found that about 23% of births in Bangladesh were born in a short birth interval. The likelihood of subsequent births of women decreases with an increase in the score of women's 3E before or after controlling the characteristics of women, child, and households. The results of the final model show that mothers with the coverage of 50% - 75%, 75% - 100%, and full coverage (100%) in 3E have a 23%, 41%, and 42% lower odds of having short birth interval compared to mothers with coverage of below 50% in 3E, respectively. Conclusion and recommendation: Bangladesh still lags behind in meeting the minimum requirements for inter-birth intervals set by the World Health Organization. The study has shown that the 3E in women can contribute in prolonging the duration of subsequent births in Bangladesh. Policy-making interventions are needed to raise awareness among uneducated, under-empowered and economically poor reproductive women through family planning and fertility control programs so that the country can achieve the desired fertility rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]