Assessment of Educational Needs Among Women of Reproductive Age With Common Genital Tract Infections (Vaginitis): The First Step for Developing a Self-care Educational Package

Objectives: Defining the educational needs of women concerning vaginitis and self-care methods aiming at disease treatment is a necessity. This study aimed to determine the educational needs among women at reproductive age with vaginitis in order to design a training program. Materials and Methods: In a descriptive cross sectional study using purposive sampling, 224 non-pregnant, premenopausal, 15-49 years old, and sexually active females complaining from vaginitis were admitted in the 3 gynecology clinics in Tehran, Iran in 2014. Data on educational needs was collected through a questionnaire containing demographic and disease characteristics and the needs assessment sections, which includes 13 topics of educational needs related to vaginitis based on five score in likert scale. Results: The mean age of patients was 32 ± (6.9). The average of vaginal infection episodes in the preceding year was 2.8 ± (2.6). The foremost educational need was sexual self-care of vaginitis. Educational needs averages of the disease information and self-care domains showed a significant statistical difference (P < .001). A total of 115 individuals (51.4%) highly needed education based on the total score. Conclusion: Education is highly needed regarding self-care of vaginitis. The educational need regarding sexual relationship self care is more critical than other topics. The needs in the domain of self care are more important than the domain of disease information. We suggest preparing self-care educational package based on needs assessment as a useful tool to help treatment and prevention of disease recurrence.