Awareness on Presentation of Obstetric Fistula and Associated Factors Among Reproductive Age Women in South Eastern Zone of Tigray

Abstract

<i>Background</i>: Worldwide, around one million girls and women are currently living with fistula. Less than 20,000 women with obstetric fistula are treated each year. Lack of awareness is a frequently mentioned barrier to seeking fistula treatment; many women suffering from obstetric fistula do not know what fistula is, as it is treatable, or where to get treatment. Even though obstetric fistula has likely weighed down women since the beginning of time, few researches proportionally exists. <i>Methods:</i> A community based quantitative cross-sectional survey was undertaken in south eastern zone of Tigray. A multistage random sampling technique was implemented to select total participants of 605 reproductive age women. Two districts were randomly selected and from those districts, 12 kebels were selected randomly and the calculated sample size (605) was proportionally allocated to each selected kebeles. The data were collected by using face to face/interview with structured questionnaire from February 26-March 24/2020 after ensuring that all requirements of ethical considerations were fulfilled. The collected data were entered in to Epidata version 4.2 then exported to SPSS version20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics with frequency, percentage, table and graph and cross tabulation were used for presentation of result. Bivariable and multivariable analysis were used to examine the association. Odds ratios with 95% confidence interval and P-value <0.05 were used to determine the statistical association. <i>Result:</i> Overall, about 31.6% of respondents had good awareness on presentation of obstetric fistula. The major determinants identified to awareness on presentation of obstetric fistula were educational level (above secondary) [AOR (95%CI=2.9 (1.42-9.6)], history of institutional delivery (for the index child) [AOR (95%CI=4.1 (1.76-9.56)] and having prior information about obstetric fistula [AOR (95%CI=2.2 (1.01-4.75)]. <i>Conclusion:</i> In this study majority of reproductive age women in the study area had poor awareness regarding presentation of obstetric fistula. Several interventions like health education and information should be implemented to enhance the awareness of the community towards obstetric fistula.