The association between intimate partner violence and self-managed abortion: a cross-sectional study among women in urban Bangladesh.

In Bangladesh, abortion is illegal, except to save a woman's life. However, menstrual regulation (MR) to induce menstruation up to 12 weeks from the last menstrual period is permitted. Although safe and legal MR services are available, many women choose to self-manage their abortions. The prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Bangladesh is high. Whether IPV is associated with self-managed abortion is unknown. Between January and December 2019 we administered cross-sectional surveys to women presenting for MR or post-abortion care (PAC) services at facilities in six cities in Bangladesh assessing if women had ever experienced IPV and if they attempted to self-manage their abortion. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the association between IPV and self-managed abortion and multinomial logistic regression to the association between IPV by type: (none, any physical, any sexual, or both) and self-managed abortion. Among 2679 women who presented for MR or PAC care and participated in the survey, 473 (17.7%) had previously attempted to self-manage abortion. Women who had ever experienced any IPV were more likely to attempt self-managed abortion prior to presenting for MR or PAC (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.52, 95% CI 1.24, 1.87). Women who ever experienced physical IPV were more likely to attempt self-managed abortion (adjusted relative risk ratio (aRRR) = 1.62, 95% CI 1.30, 2.03). Women who have ever experienced physical IPV may be more likely to attempt a self-managed abortion because they seek more covert ways of ending a pregnancy out of fear for their safety, or because of limited mobility or lack of resources. Interventions to support women to safely self-manage abortion should focus on populations with higher rates of IPV.

Follow-up of practiced treatment regimens and health conditions of patients following recovery from COVID-19 residing in Dhaka City: a survey-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study.

Objective: To observe the prognosis of cases of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), focusing on symptoms, treatment and post-recovery health conditions. Methodology: The respondents were residents of Dhaka City, Bangladesh who had a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research from October to December 2020. They were followed up 1-3 months after diagnosis. Data were collected via Google forms sent directly by e-mail, and were analysed using SPSS. Participation was voluntary, and confidentiality of the respondents was strictly maintained. Results: Five hundred and twenty-two of 3148 patients who had recovered from COVID-19 responded to the survey. The mean (±standard deviation) age and body mass index of the respondents were 39.8±13 years and 26.4±6.5 kg/m2, respectively. More males than females participated in this study (70.3% vs 29.5%). Approximately 39.3% of respondents had comorbidities. The majority (88.5%) of respondents had experienced symptoms, including fever, fatigue, anosmia and aguesia, body pain, headache and dry cough, for 1-5 days. Respondents were treated with antibiotics (72.4%), antiparasitics (47.9%) and antivirals (15.9%). Overall, respondents were RT-PCR positive for a mean of 19.7±7.6 days. Symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, uneasiness, body pain and dry cough persisted in 76.3% of respondents when they were RT-PCR negative. Conclusion: For most respondents, COVID-19 symptoms extended beyond the period of RT-PCR positivity. Further studies are needed to determine the changing status of COVID-19.