Treatment seeking behaviors related to gonorrhea among female sex workers in 7 cities in Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Gonorrhea is one of sexually transmitted infections that have become a major health problem especially among female sex workers (FSW) in Indonesia. The objective of this article is to identify the relationship between treatment seeking behaviors, the sites of study and gonorrhea among FSW. Methods: The data that analyzed derived from cross sectional study and the respondents were direct FSW (1286) and indirect FSW (464) chosen by cluster random sampling from 7 cities in Indonesia in 2007. Endoservical swab were collected from respondents who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The Diagnosis of gonorrhea confirmed in accordance with the results of PCR by Amplicor CT / NG from Roche which has high sensitivity and has been approved by The World Health Organization (WHO) as a screening test. Results:The proportion of respondents who had gonorrheae was 26.1% (404/1750). The subjects had and who did have Gonorrhea were similarly distributed with respect to frequency of mode of treatment in term of health facility /medical doctor and buying drug by herself. Compared with those who had mode of treatment at health facility /medical doctor, those who had traditional treatment had 44% high risk to be gonorrheae [adjusted relative risk (RRa) = 1.44; P = 0.044]; and those who had not treated had 55% more risk to be gonorrhea (RRa = 1.55; P = 0.002). Conclusion: Female sex worker who had traditional treatment, and did not have treatment had higher risk to be gonorrhea compared to subjects who visited health facility/medical doctor. (Health Science Indonesia 2013;2:87-92)