Knowledge and awareness of genital involvement and reproductive health consequences of urogenital schistosomiasis in endemic communities in Ghana: a cross-sectional study.

Kwabena M Bosompem,Dzidzo R Yirenya-Tawiah,Mercy M Ackumey

doi:10.1186/s12978-016-0238-5

Kwabena M Bosompem, Dzidzo R Yirenya-Tawiah + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-016-0238-5

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Abstract

BackgroundThe World Health Organization, in the year 2009, renamed Schistosomiasis haematobium disease, urinary schistosomiasis, as urogenital schistosomiasis. This study, sought to determine whether urogenital schistosomiasis endemic community members were aware of the broadened scope of the disease and associated certain reproductive health related signs and symptoms to S. haematobium infection.MethodThis is a cross-sectional study in which 2,585 respondents aged 15–49 years from 30 riparian communities along the lower arm of the Volta lake were interviewed using a structured questionnaire; 24 focus group discussions were also conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency of responses for each question posed and Chi squared tests used to determine the associations between demographic variables and variables of interest. Binary logistic regression was used to predict the probability of a reported symptom as an indicator of urogenital schistosomiasis. Thematic analysis was used to examine narratives.ResultNinety four percent of male respondents and 88.7 % of female respondents acknowledged schistosomiasis as a water-borne disease. Only 207 out of 1,096 subjects (18.9 %) responding to questionnaire agreed to the knowledge that urogenital schistosomiasis can have reproductive health implications. A significant difference in variation in this knowledge was found between males (14.5 %) and females (7.2 %) (p = 0.001). The study also found that, although knowledge on HIV was high, only 12.3 % of respondents knew that urogenital schistosomiasis could facilitate the acquisition of HIV. Women who reported to have ever suffered schistosomiasis were 1.3 and 1.5 times more likely to report vaginal discharge and vaginal itch. Sexual dysfunction (11.1 %) and urethral discharge (10.6 %) were the most frequently reported symptoms among males.ConclusionThe study finds very limited knowledge on the reproductive health consequences of the disease among endemic communities. It is recommended that health education on urogenital schistosomiasis should also include issues on symptoms of the disease, reproductive health consequences and HIV transmission.

Highlights

The World Health Organization, in the year 2009, renamed Schistosomiasis haematobium disease, urinary schistosomiasis, as urogenital schistosomiasis
The study found that, knowledge on HIV was high, only 12.3 % of respondents knew that urogenital schistosomiasis could facilitate the acquisition of HIV
It is recommended that health education on urogenital schistosomiasis should include issues on symptoms of the disease, reproductive health consequences and HIV transmission

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization, in the year 2009, renamed Schistosomiasis haematobium disease, urinary schistosomiasis, as urogenital schistosomiasis. This study, sought to determine whether urogenital schistosomiasis endemic community members were aware of the broadened scope of the disease and associated certain reproductive health related signs and symptoms to S. haematobium infection. The World Health Organization, in the year 2009, renamed urinary schistosomiasis as urogenital schistosomiasis to cater for the genital involvement of infection and estimated that about 45 million women of child bearing age are estimated to suffer from urogenital schistosomiasis [3]. That the name of the disease has been broadened to include the genital form of the disease, it is necessary for both, health professionals and endemic populations to become aware of the broadened scope of signs and symptoms to help with diagnosis and management of the infection. Talaat et al [13] found that, in a small hamlet in Egypt community members recognized S. haematobium as a health problem, they did not believe that it affected their reproductive health and were hardly aware of the possible impact of reproductive morbidity on women's arduous daily tasks [13]

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