title: Reproductive health awareness among adolescent girls in rural Bangladesh.
abstract: This article presents the status of rural Bangladeshi adolescent girls' awareness about reproductive health. Analysis of data revealed that a sizable proportion of adolescent girls had incorrect knowledge or misconceptions about the fertile period, reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Age, education either of adolescents or their mothers, residence, and exposure to mass media were the significant predictors of adolescent girls' knowledge about reproductive health. Strong efforts are needed to improve awareness and to clarify misconceptions about reproductive health. Improved access to mass media and education could improve rural Bangladeshi adolescent girls' awareness about reproductive health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management Information System, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. ujasim@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Md Jashim
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.forename: Abdul Mannan
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Choudhury
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001459:Bangladesh; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012098:Reproduction; D012423:Rural Health; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult