Awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS among married women in rural Bangladesh and exposure to media: a secondary data analysis of the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey.

The aims of this study were to describe awareness and knowledge of HIV/AIDS among Bangladeshi married women in rural areas and to examine associations between exposure to mass media and their awareness and comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS where mass media has been suggested to be vital sources of information. From the original dataset of the sixth Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey in 2011, the data of 11,570 rural married women aged 15-49 years old were extracted. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We found that approximately two-thirds of women (63.0%) aged 15-49 years had heard about HIV/AIDS. Exposure to each type of media was significantly associated with awareness of HIV/AIDS. Comparing to those who were not exposed to each of the investigated media, the adjusted ORs of comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS were significantly high for those exposed to newspapers/magazines less than once a week (1.34, 95% CI 1.09-1.65), newspapers/ magazines at least once a week (1.44, 95% CI 1.07-1.94), television at least once a week (1.41, 95% CI 1.18-1.68). It was suggested that television can be utilized to increase awareness and comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS through effective programs. Although the level of exposure was still low, significant associations between exposure to newspapers/magazines and comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS suggested potential of written messages to promote knowledge of HIV/AIDS.