Clinico-epidemiologic-profile and associated behaviour patterns of patients presenting to sexually transmitted infections clinic in tertiary care hospital in South Gujarat: an observational cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STI)/respiratory tract infections (RTIs) constitute major public health problems in society since they increase the risk of HIV transmission. As the different regions in the country show variability in the clinical profile and high-risk behaviors of patients, it is important to study the trend in the particular region before formulating control measures. To study the clinico-epidemiologic profile of patients presenting to STI clinic along with the high-risk behaviors associated with transmission of STIs.Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional retrospective study by data analysis of hospital records in STI clinic done from April 2012 to March 2013. The detailed history was taken into consideration with special emphasis on sexual history, sexual behaviours, specific exposures, socio-demographics and other high-risk markers.Results: Females formed the majority of the affected population with marital status, illiteracy, migrant status of the population being the independent demographic factors. The important findings were that the high-risk behaviors were more common in married population and the inconsistent condom use in marital encounters were found to be the cause of increasing prevalence in the study population.Conclusions: The spread of the STIs from high risk population to no risk general population is an alarming sign.