UNDERSTANDING AND CARE SEEKING BEHAVIOUR OF REPRODUCTIVE TRACT INFECTIONS AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES AMONG MARRIED WOMEN ATTENDING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, LAHORE – PAKISTAN

The objective of this study was to determine understanding and health seeking behaviour among patients presenting with symptoms of reproductive tract infections (TRIs) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and to identify socio-demographic and behavioral risk factors associated with these conditions. This is a cross – sectional study and was conducted at gynae out patients clinics of Jinnah hospital Lahore. Participants were 100 women having symptoms of reproductive tract infections / sexually transmitted diseases (new and old cases), between 1st and 30th April, 2012. Face to face interview was conducted by the trained medical students and information about socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about STDs and behavior to seek medical care, preference of medical facility, interval between appearance of symptoms and seeking for treatment and reasons for delay was recorded according to structured questionnaire. Fifty one percent women had the knowledge about STDs and main source of knowledge was electronic media, friends and relatives. All above women told the exact symptoms of these diseases and 27.3% answered that mode of transmission was mainly sexual intercourse. Sixteen percent women did not sought health care facility actively by themselves while some one brought them. Type of health care facility and provider for those who actively sought for medical care was Jinnah Hospital for 42.2% while 24%, 14%, 4.5% and 1% visited private maternity homes, Lahore General hospital, Pharmacy and herbal care respectively were tried before coming to this health facility. Reasons for not actively seeking for medical care were mildness of symptoms in 10 (out of 16), absence of perceived morbidity 1, social discrimination and shyness for genital examination in 2 and rest had the financial reasons. Women with lower education waited significantly longer for seeking care than those with higher education. Women who delayed in seeking care significantly had less knowledge of STD transmission and symptoms than women who did not delay in seeking care. It was concluded that early health care seeking behavior for STDs could be facilitated through improving women s basic knowledge regarding STDs, changing their sexual behaviour and creating a social support and environment for early care seeking.