GEE Models for Maternal Morbidity in Rural Bangladesh

The maternal morbidity data in Bangladesh is scanty. This paper employs the prospective data on maternal morbidity in rural Bangladesh to identify the potential risk factors associated with pregnancy related complications. The data were collected by the Bangladesh Institute of Research for Promotion of Essential and Reproductive Health and Technologies (BIR-PERHT) during November, 1992 to December, 1993. The GEE models with different correlation structures are used and tested for the maternal morbidity data. The logistic regression model based on exchangeable correlation structure for the repeated observations appears to be the best. The findings indicate that the risk of suffering from complications is higher for unwanted pregnancy, lower level or no schooling, lower age at marriage, 5 or more pregnancies prior to the index pregnancy.