Determinants associated with high-risk fertility behaviours among reproductive aged women in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the factors that increase the risk of HRFB in Bangladeshi women of reproductive age 15–49 years. METHODS: The study utilised the latest Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2017–18 dataset. The Pearson's chi-square test was performed to determine the relationships between the outcome and the independent variables, while multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the potential determinants associated with HRFB. RESULTS: Overall 67.7% women had HRFB among them 45.6% were at single risk and 22.1% were at multiple high-risks. Women’s age (35–49 years: AOR = 6.42 95% CI 3.95–10.42), who were Muslims(AOR = 5.52, 95% CI 2.25–13.52), having normal childbirth (AOR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.22–1.69), having unwanted pregnancy (AOR = 10.79, 95% CI 5.67–18.64) and not using any contraceptive methods (AOR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.24–1.81) were significantly associated with increasing risk of having HRFB. Alternatively, women and their partners’ higher education were associated with reducing HRFB. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of Bangladeshi women had high-risk fertility behaviour which is quite alarming. Therefore, the public health policy makers in Bangladesh should emphasis on this issue and design appropriate interventions to reduce the maternal HRFB.