Barriers to Early Treatment Seeking among Patients with Sexually Transmitted Infections in a Rural Community Setting at Kaproron Health Centre IV

Abstract

Our study aimed to establish barriers to early treatment seeking among patients with sexually transmitted infections at Kaproron Health Centre IV. This was a facility-based cross-sectional survey employing quantitative methods. The study enrolled a total of 122 randomly selected participants who had consented to participate in the study. Data was collected using a pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed using STATA software version 14. Descriptive statistics were used to present data as graphs and tables of frequencies while for inferential statistics odds ratios and P-value set at 0.05 corresponding to a 95% confidence interval were used. The study revealed that 56.86% of the participants sought their STI treatment late. Participants’ age, sex, symptom severity and cost of services at Kaproron Health Centre IV presented as significant barriers to early STI treatment seeking. Participants aged 36-45 (AOR-0.16, p-0.04, CI-0.03-0.88) and ≥46 years (AOR-0.17, p-0.05, CI-0.03-0.98) had lower odds of seeking treatment early which was similar for female participants (COR-0.38, p-0.02, CI-0.17— 0.86). Conversely, participants with severe STI symptoms (COR-2.8, p-0.02, CI-1.19-6.58) and those who reported STI services at Kaproron Health Centre IV as affordable (AOR-3.73, p-0.011, CI-1.35-10.25) were 3.73 times more likely to seek early treatment. A higher proportion sought STI treatment late. Age, gender, symptom severity and service costs presented significant barriers to seeking early treatment. Mass STI screening programs should target individuals aged 26 and above, females and impoverished communities. Keywords: STI treatment, Patients, Age, Gender, Symptom severity.