Health care seeking behavior for reproductive tract infection and its associated factors among female migrants in Pingshan New District, Shenzhen

Abstract

Objective To understand health care seeking behavior for reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and its influence factors among female migrants in Pingshan New District, Shenzhen. Methods Totally 1 480 female migrants were recruited by cluster random sampling and completed questionnaire involved the basic demographic characteristics, RTI treatment status and related factors. SPSS19.0 and SAS9.1 were performed to analyze data. Results Of 1 480 female migrants, 467 (31.6%) women had at least one RTI symptoms in the past three months, and 68.6% of them had sought health care after medical symptoms. Among 144 women who didn’t seek treatment, 12.6% bought some medicine themselves, 30.7% rinsed with lotion and 56.7% didn’t take any measure. Multilevel model analysis showed that after illness, women who lived with husbands or boyfriends informants were more likely to go to the hospital (OR=0.311), and women who did not obtain the RTI knowledge were less likely to seek treatment to hospital. Conclusion RTI symptoms were prevalent among female migrants and quite a few women still didn’t seek health care. Health education for RTI needs to be strengthened targeting female migrants. Key words: Female migrants; Reproductive tract infection (RCT); Health care seeking behavior