Study of socio-demographic profile and morbidity pattern of women of reproductive age group attending sexually transmitted infections clinic at an urban health centre in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Background: Morbidities related to reproductive health in women are largely under reported or tends to be reported at a late stage in the sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic. Social stigma, cultural factors and non-priority to reproductive health in the family and non-involvement of the spouse are amongst the factors in the family affecting the compliance for treatment amongst women. Moreover women in most cases are deprived of their own decision-making autonomy with reference to STIs & RTIs. In most cases the woman is the passive empowered partner in acquiring STIs and RTIs. The present study was designed to understand the dynamics of the epidemiological factors compared with extent of compliance to treatment sought amongst women at the RTI/STI Clinic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at STI clinic located in urban health centre of field practice area of Department of Community Medicine of a tertiary care teaching hospital i.e. Seth G. S. Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai during the period of January 2014 to December 2015. A total of 306 reproductive women were included and a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used for the study. Data was analyzed by using statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Results: The morbidity pattern ranking from highest to lowest order showed that 171 (55.9%) women had white discharge, while 46 (15.1%) reported to have burning or pain during urination, 118 (38.6%) were having lower abdominal pain, 32 (10.5%) of women complained of dyspareunia, 12 (3.9%), and 9 (2.9%) women diagnosed as having bleeding after sex and prolapse and 5 (1.6%) had herpetic ulcer & inguinal bubo respectively. The associated medical conditions identified were 20 (6.5%) of women had diabetes, 18 (5.9%) were having hypertension, 21 (6.9%) women were having tuberculosis and 9 (2.9%) were HIV positive. Conclusions: Almost 63% of the women were married before 18 years of age. Most of these married women were homemakers and were literate upto primary and secondary level. Early diagnosis and adequate treatment of STIs/RTIs at the first contact between patients and health care providers is therefore an important public health measure. There is a need to promote, educate and increase the awareness regarding the RTIs/STIs at the community level.