Determinants of caesarean risk factor in Northern region of Bangladesh: A multivariate analysis

Background: caesarean section (c-section) rates have been increasing dramatically in the past decades around the world. this increase has been attributed to multiple factors such as maternal,socio-demographic and institutional fac-tors. therefore,this study examines the impact of maternal,socio-demographic and relevant characteristics on caesar-ean delivery in the northern region of bangladesh. methods: this study is based on a total of 1142 delivery cases from four private hospitals and four public hospitals during the period of january to march 2010. the study was carried out using a cross-sectional design where data were collected by simple random sampling. in order to data analysis,first,an initial bivariate analysis was performed by the chi-square and fisher exact test. secondly,the risk factors which are associated with c-section identify by logistic re-gression model. finally,a stepwise regression analysis was carried out to isolate the most influential risk factors. results: among the 17 risk factors,nine were found significantly associated with type of delivery. eight of the risk factors i.e. previous c-section,pregnancy-induced swollen of leg,prolonged labour,maternal education status,mater-nal age more than 25 years,low birth order,length of baby more than 45cm and irregular intake of a balanced diet remained independently significant for caesarean delivery. the value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. maternal complications were found to be more significant in public hospitals than in private ones and conversely for the demographic characteristics. conclusion: the findings of this study suggested that the above factors may influence the health-seeking behaviour of women in the northern region of bangladesh.