Parental son preference in seeking medical care for children less than five years of age in a rural community in Bangladesh.

We examined drug purchases for children less than five years of age from privately owned pharmacies in Matlab, a rural area in Bangladesh. The male to female incidence rate ratio was 1.71 (95 per cent confidence intervals = 1.27, 2.28) for overall drug purchase, and 2.94 (95% CI = 1.14, 7.73) for purchase of drugs prescribed by physicians. Our findings support and extend previous observations in this community of parental son preference in caring for children.