Diabetes is a chronic disease characterised by elevated blood sugar levels, which can lead to damage across various body systems. Bangladesh has the second highest number of adults with diabetes in South Asia and faces a significant economic burden from this condition. The objective of this study was to investigate the economic burden of diabetes and its associated factors among patients with diabetes registered at a tertiary-level diabetes hospital in the Rajshahi region of Bangladesh.

This was a cross-sectional hospital-based study.

Primary data were collected from patients with diabetes at a tertiary-level diabetes hospital in Bangladesh.

The study recruited 400 patientswith diabetes, who were randomly selected. The economic burden was assessed using the Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) threshold of ≥10% of household income. Descriptive statistics, 2 tests, t-tests, linear regression and binary logistic regression were employed for analysis, with statistical significance set at p

The proportion of diabetes-related burden among patients with diabetes was 50.7%. 95.8% of patients had type 2 diabetes, and over half (52.5%) were overweight or obese. Treatment costs were significantly associated with diabetes duration, insulin use and age (35–55 vs ≥56 years). The economic burden was strongly associated with lower income levels (poor income and middle income vs high income) and longer diabetes duration. Participants not adhering to a healthy diet had 43% lower odds of experiencing economic burden than those following a healthy diet.

Approximately half of the patients experienced catastrophic health expenditure due to diabetes, indicating a substantial economic burden in the Rajshahi region of Bangladesh. This burden was significantly higher among lower-income and middle-income groups and patients with longer disease duration, and treatment-related factors such as insulin use were associated with greater financial strain. These findings emphasise the need for targeted financial protection strategies, including subsidised care and preventive interventions.

To assess the mental health status and identify associated factors among rural adult women in Bangladesh.

Cross-sectional study using face-to-face interviews with a semistructured questionnaire.

Data were collected between January and February 2025 in three rural upazilas (Dhamrai, Nawabganj and Sreepur) using multistage systematic sampling. The semistructured questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics, household assets and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). The wealth index was calculated using principal component analysis. Cases with mild to extreme levels of depression, anxiety and stress were grouped together to indicate the presence of any level of the three mental health problems. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses using ², Fisher’s exact test and Welch two-sample t-test, and multivariable binary logistic regression to identify predictive factors of mental problems. A Venn diagram was generated to display the proportion of patients with anxiety, depression and stress. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (V.26) and R Studio (V.2025.05) with a significance level of p

A total of 1350 women aged 18 years or older who were available at home during the data collection period and gave consent to participate. Women who were unable to participate due to illness were excluded.

Participants had a mean (±SD) age of 36.35 (±12.58) years. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress was 47.7%, 60.7% and 23.2%, respectively. Moderate severity was most common among patients with depression (20.34%), anxiety (24.20%) and stress (8.03%). 20% of participants experienced all three conditions simultaneously, with 22% having both depression and anxiety. Multivariable analysis revealed that factors associated with an increased odds of depression, anxiety and stress were chronic diseases (ORs (95% CIs): 2.02 (1.50 to 2.73), 1.44 (1.05 to 1.99) and 1.91 (1.35 to 2.71), respectively) and history of abuse (1.84 (1.28 to 2.66); 3.15 (2.06 to 4.93) and 1.91 (1.28 to 2.83), respectively). Family history of mental illness was associated with an increased odds of anxiety (1.71 (95% CI 1.12 to 2.87)) and stress (1.61 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.52)). So was the presence of a caregiving role (1.68 (95% CI 1.18 to 2.42) and 1.50 (95% CI 1.02 to 2.19) for anxiety and stress, respectively). Having a financial problem was associated with an increased odds of anxiety (1.52 (95% CI 1.16 to 2.00)). A happy family relationship was associated with decreased odds of depression (0.28 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.93)), anxiety (0.22 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.60)) and stress (0.50 (95% CI 0.25 to 1.00)). Conjugal satisfaction was protective against anxiety (0.42 (95% CI 0.18 to 0.80) and stress (0.32 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.59)). Unexpectedly, higher wealth status (being rich) increased depression (1.56 (95% CI 1.04 to 2.34) and anxiety (1.57 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.41) risk.

A major segment of rural adult women of Bangladesh experiences mental health problems. The findings recommend community-based comprehensive mental health screening programmes, interventions and integration of mental healthcare into primary health systems to address this critical public health challenge.

To assess the sex-specific status of dietary diversity (DD) and its associated factors among older men and women (aged ≥60 years) in Bangladesh.

A nationally representative cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2018–2019 on food security, nutrition and health of older adults of both sexes.

Data were collected from 82 clusters (rural 57, non-slum urban 15 and slum 10) from all eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh.

A total of 4817 participants aged ≥60 years (2482 men and 2335 women) were enrolled.

A list-based (24-item) recall method was employed, and the items were later aggregated into 10 food groups. The outcome variable was the prevalence of inadequate DD, defined as consumption of less than 5 food groups out of 10.

Men and women had mean DD scores of 4.33±1.6 and 4.13±1.7, respectively. Women had a higher prevalence of inadequate DD than men (61.2% vs 56.3%, p=0.028). Among the food groups, women consumed significantly less fish and eggs than men (fish: 50.96% vs 57.76%, p=0.002; eggs: 17.13% vs 22.10%, p=0.004). Poor education, rural dwellings, living in homes with fewer individuals and living in food-insecure households were associated with inadequate DD in both sexes. Furthermore, among men, older age and not being currently married, and among women, lower age and living in households with middle wealth status were associated with inadequate DD.

The study found that older women consume relatively less diverse diets than men, and several sociodemographic factors influence inadequate DD among older adults of both sexes in Bangladesh. These factors should be considered while developing policies and programmes to promote equitable access to a diversified diet and improve geriatric health and nutritional outcomes.

The rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health disorders (MHDs) such as anxiety and depression, poses a significant public health challenge globally. Evidence suggests that both diabetes and hypertension, the two most prevalent NCDs, are linked to a higher prevalence of MHDs. However, there is a lack of evidence on prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression among adults living with both diabetes and hypertension in Bangladesh. We aimed to assess the prevalence of GAD and depression and explore the associated factors among adults living with diabetes and hypertension comorbidity in rural Bangladesh.

We implemented a cross-sectional study.

The study was conducted in Chirirbandar, a sub-district of Dinajpur, Bangladesh.

We interviewed a total of 387 adults living with diabetes and hypertension comorbidity.

We had two primary outcome measures: GAD and depression. Individuals scoring ≥10 on the General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale were considered as having GAD and individuals scoring ≥10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale were considered as having depression. The outcome variables were dichotomised based on these scores.

The prevalence of GAD was 7.24% (95% CI 5.04 to 10.29). Education level (grades 5–9) (adjusted OR (AOR): 3.40, 95% CI 1.26 to 9.19) and household wealth status (highest wealth tertile) (AOR: 0.12, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.62) were associated with GAD. The prevalence of depression was 17.83% (95% CI 14.32 to 21.98). Socioeconomic factors associated with depression included unemployment (AOR: 3.26, 95% CI 1.05 to 10.10) and household wealth status (highest wealth tertile) (AOR: 0.45, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.98). Higher odds of depression were also observed among participants with controlled hypertension (AOR: 3.88, 95% CI 1.81 to 8.35). Other factors, such as tobacco use, dietary diversity and physical activity, were not associated with GAD or depression.

A high prevalence of GAD and depression was observed among adults living with diabetes and hypertension comorbidity. The findings from the study emphasise the need for integration of mental health services into the existing non-communicable disease care. The identified factors associated with GAD or depression should be considered to develop targeted interventions for people with hypertension and diabetes comorbidity in Bangladesh.

The use of different electronic devices is increasing among students due to rapid advancements in digital technology. The prevalence of computer vision syndrome (CVS) has increased among school children after the COVID-19 pandemic. Different symptoms of CVS, such as eye strain, headache, blurred vision and visual discomfort, have become major public health problems. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of CVS, identify its risk factors, evaluate parental awareness and examine the impact of COVID-19 on screen time among primary school children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Primary data were collected from the parents of 500 primary school students aged 5–14 years using a convenience sampling method through face-to-face interviews. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect demographic information, screen usage patterns, ambient conditions and details regarding the children’s academic performance. The Computer Vision Syndrome Questionnaire scale was used to assess the prevalence and severity of CVS. Various statistical analyses were performed, including ² tests, Fisher’s exact tests and logistic regression, to identify significant predictors of CVS (p

Findings revealed that 16.4% of children were affected by CVS, with key risk factors including age, school year, maternal education and daily screen time. Children with CVS commonly reported headaches and itchy eyes, which negatively impacted their academic performance. Surprisingly, 67.4% of parents were unaware of CVS, and the odds of developing CVS were 3.74 times higher among children using electronic devices for more than 4 hours daily.

The study explored the low prevalence of CVS among primary school students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Several symptoms, like headaches and eye discomfort, were identified that impaired their academic performance. Additionally, many parents were largely unaware of CVS. Therefore, it is necessary to take proper strategies to be aware of the consequences and lessen the prevalence of CVS to save our future generation.

Stunting, wasting and underweight are the three widely recognised indicators of child undernutrition. This study aimed to simultaneously model all indicators while accounting for their association using a joint modelling technique to identify their risk factors.

This was a cross-sectional study design.

The anthropometric data of children were elicited from the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019.

Stunting, wasting and underweight were the main outcome measures of child undernutrition. Initially, a generalised linear mixed model (GLMM) was developed for each indicator separately to identify the underlying risk factors by considering children within the cluster (district level) as hierarchically nested. Finally, a joint model was developed by combining the separate GLMMs with the condition of correlated cluster-specific (district-specific) random effects.

The developed joint model provided precise effects of the risk factors and quantified the association among stunting, wasting and underweight. The joint correlations of underweight with stunting and underweight with wasting were significantly positive based on the predictors in the joint model. The age of children, household wealth status, and maternal education were risk factors for both stunting and underweight. The mother’s age at first birth and the episode of fever were significantly correlated with both underweight and wasting, while the episode of fever was significantly associated with underweight. The region, residence and sex of children were significantly associated with all undernutrition indicators.

This study demonstrates the application of a joint model to simultaneously identify the risk factors associated with indicators of child undernutrition. The study findings reveal a substantial positive association between stunting and underweight, as well as between underweight and wasting, with shared risk factors contributing to the disparity in the prevalence of all forms of child undernutrition in Bangladesh.

The quality of our lives is the quality of our relationships. As we approach a challenging time of the year for loneliness and isolation, what do we know about social isolation and healthcare utilisation in older adults? Almost a quarter of community-dwelling older adults experience social isolation.1 There is increasing concern about the effects...