Commentary: Vaginal discharge and stress: a commentary on directions of influence

Abstract

Patel et al.’s findings add to a small but growing body of evidence linking reproductive tract and psychological symptoms among women. The study situated in Goa India goes beyond other studies in at least two significant ways. First unlike earlier studies it is based on a large sample of women drawn from a community rather than facility-based setting and hence reports on a more representative sample of the population. Second the study incorporated an innovative and culturally sensitive set of questions that relate to psychosocial exposure as well as socio-demographic characteristics and reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted infections (RTI/STI) symptoms. Patel et al. concluding that there is a powerful link between mental health risk factors and reported experience of vaginal discharge question the rationale for syndromic management of vaginal discharge reports among women in India and argue for a more comprehensive syndromic management algorithm that takes psychosocial factors into account. (excerpt)