scholarly journals Proximity to Screening Site, Rurality, and Neighborhood Disadvantage: Treatment Status among Individuals with Sexually Transmitted Infections in Yakima County, Washington

Author(s):  
Solmaz Amiri ◽  
Christine D. Pham ◽  
Ofer Amram ◽  
Karl C. Alcover ◽  
Oladunni Oluwoye ◽  
...  

Background: Early sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosis facilitates prompt treatment initiation and contributes to reduced transmission. This study examined the extent to which contextual characteristics such as proximity to screening site, rurality, and neighborhood disadvantage along with demographic variables, may influence treatment seeking behavior among individuals with STIs (i.e., chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis). Methods: Data on 16,075 diagnosed cases of STIs between 2007 and 2018 in Yakima County were obtained from the Washington State Department of Health Database Surveillance System. Multilevel models were applied to explore the associations between contextual and demographic characteristics and two outcomes: (a) not receiving treatment and (b) the number of days to receiving treatment. Results: Contextual risk factors for not receiving treatment or having increased number of days to treatment were living ≥10 miles from the screening site and living in micropolitan, small towns, or rural areas. Older age was a protective factor and being female was a risk for both outcomes. Conclusions: Healthcare providers and facilities should be made aware of demographic and contextual characteristics that can impact treatment seeking behavior among individuals with STIs, especially among youth, females, and rural residents.

AIDS Care ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1350-1358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Rosenheck ◽  
David Ngilangwa ◽  
Rachael Manongi ◽  
Saidi Kapiga

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMPHOY SIHAVONG ◽  
CECILIA STÅLSBY LUNDBORG ◽  
LAMPHONE SYHAKHANG ◽  
SENGCHANH KOUNNAVONG ◽  
ROLF WAHLSTRÖM ◽  
...  

SummaryCreating community awareness of reproductive tract infections (RTI), including sexually transmitted infections (STI), and how to prevent them is essential to minimize their spread. Data on people's views about RTI/STI are entirely lacking in Laos. The aim of this study was thus to explore people's perceptions, treatment-seeking behaviour and understanding of information about RTI/STI, in urban and rural communities in two provinces in Laos. Fourteen focus group discussions and 20 in-depth interviews were held with 76 women and 56 men, selected purposively to provide diversity of socio-demographic backgrounds. Qualitative content analysis was employed for the data analysis. The major finding was that both male and female participants had a variety of misconceptions about the causes and symptoms of RTI/STI and their cure, and a reluctance to seek health care, which could cause delay in appropriate diagnosis and treatment. The most common treatment-seeking behaviour was self-medication through private pharmacies, following advice mostly given by friends and drug sellers. The main reasons for not going to health facilities were fear of social discrimination or shyness of genital examination. Complaints were also made about clinicians' negative attitudes towards ‘dirty disease’. Although condom use was mentioned as a way to prevent RTI/STI, an unwillingness to use condoms was commonly expressed. The main media sources of RTI/STI information were radio and television, and access to health information was more difficult in rural areas. The health messages provided were mostly understood, except for some technical terms. The findings indicate that strengthening health education and promotion through interventions at the community level is recommended to improve quality of RTI/STI management. Health education messages should be more accessible in rural areas. There is also an urgent need to improve communication between RTI/STI patients and clinicians.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-70
Author(s):  
Poonam P Shingade ◽  
Yasmeen Kazi ◽  
Madhavi LH

Sexually Transmitted Infections/Reproductive Tract Infections (STIs/RTIs) are a major public health problem and a leading cause of morbidity among men and women in developing countries. The aim of the study is to explore treatment seeking behavior among the married women of reproductive age presented with symptoms of STI/RTI. A hospital-based observational study was carried out at the STI/RTI Clinic of Urban Health Centre, Shivaji Nagar, Govandi, Mumbai, India. The study involved a total of 273 married females who attended clinic for their symptoms during January to March 2012. Patients were interviewed using a pretested questionnaire to explore the detail of the treatment seeking behavior regarding STIs/RTIs. Out of total women who participated in the study, only 47.6% of the women with STIs/RTIs symptoms sought health care. Among those who did not seek treatment, 58.65 % females were belonging to 21-25 years of age group. Maximum 65.6% females who were illiterate had not sought any treatment for symptoms of these diseases as compared to 65% who had taken treatment for the presented symptoms who were educated up to higher secondary and above level. 62.5% females belonging to class V had never sought treatment as compared to 100% women who were classified to class I. The poor health seeking behavior was associated with literacy and socioeconomic class of the participants. Private sector was the most favored place for taking treatment by them. Commonest reason for not seeking treatment was no female doctor at clinic. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) sessions, about STI symptoms and the benefits of treat-ment, especially targeted at women and low socioeconomic groups might be an immediately feasible measure that will help to reduce the burden of the disease.South East Asia Journal of Public Health Vol.5(2) 2015: 65-70


Healthline ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-81
Author(s):  
Anita Punia ◽  
Jyoti Yadav ◽  
Babita ◽  
Sanjay Kumar Jha ◽  
Sanjeet Singh ◽  
...  

Introduction: Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs) and Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to be a major public health problem and affecting women's health. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of RTIs/STIs among married women aged 18-49 years in rural areas and to determine the factors associated with these conditions. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 308 eligible married women aged 18-49 years in rural areas in District Sonipat, Haryana using the WHO-Syndromic Approach for diagnosis of RTIs/STIs. Results: The mean age of study subjects in our study was 32.1 years (SD = ± 8.3 years) with a range from 18 to 49 years. The overall RTIs/STIs prevalence was 49.3%. The most frequent symptom was vaginal discharge (55.3%) followed by pain during micturition (34.2%), dyspareunia (26.9%), pain lower abdomen (24.3%) and vulval itching (16.4%). RTI/STI symptoms were found significantly more among women who had history of any chronic disease, who had irregular menstrual cycles, used cloths as sanitary pads and among those whose husbands were substance users. Conclusions: This study revealed a high prevalence (49.3%) of RTIs/STIs. Awareness about symptoms of RTIs, menstrual and personnel hygiene, raising literacy level of women, drive against use of addictive substances etc. by husbands is needed for control and prevention of RTIs. Primary health care services in respect of reproductive health should be strengthened and raising awareness among women about reproductive health issues through suitable communication strategies in order to bring about a positive behavior change for effective control of STIs.


e-CliniC ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erald J. Lanes ◽  
Suzanna P. Mongan ◽  
John J. E. Wantania

Abstract: Premarital sexual behavior in adolescence is a high risk factor for sexually transmitted infections. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that are generally transmitted through sexual contact. Differences in social, cultural, and economic factors were found to affect the incidence and prevalence of sexually transmitted infections between different groups in a population. These are likely caused by differences in the knowledge and attitudes of adolescents living in urban and rural areas. This study was aimed to obtain the differences in the level of knowledge and attitudes toward STIs of adolescents in urban and rural area schools. This was a descriptive study with a cross-sectional design conducted on 50 adolescents of urban senior high schools and 50 adolescents of rural senior high schools/vocational high schools. Questionnaires were distributed via email by using Google form. The results showed that adolescents living in urban areas had good knowledge about STIs meanwhile adolescents living in rural areas had fair knowledge. The attitudes about STIs of most adolescents living in urban areas and rural areas were good. In conclusion, adolescents living in urban areas had better knowledge about STIs than those living in rural areas, however, there was no significant difference in attitudes about STI between the two regions. Equal distribution of education in Indonesia is needed in urban as well as in rural areas.Keywords: sexually transmitted infections, adolescents, knowledge, attitudes, urban and rural Abstrak: Perilaku seksual pranikah pada usia remaja merupakan faktor risiko tinggi terhadap infeksi menular seksual (IMS). Infeksi menular seksual merupakan infeksi yang umumnya ditularkan melalui hubungan seksual. Perbedaan faktor sosial, kultural maupun ekonomi dapat memengaruhi insiden dan prevalensi IMS antara kelompok yang berbeda dalam suatu populasi. Hal tersebut kemungkinan besar disebabkan oleh adanya perbedaan pengetahuan dan sikap remaja yang tinggal di wilayah perkotaan dan pedesaan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perbedaan tingkat pengetahuan dan sikap remaja terhadap IMS di sekolah wilayah perkotaan dan pedesaan. Jenis penelitian ialah deskriptif dengan desain potong lintang dan kuesioner didistribusikan secara daring menggunakan Google Form. Responden ialah 50 remaja di SMA wilayah perkotaan dan 50 remaja di SMA/SMK wilayah pedesaan. Hasil penelitian mendapatkan bahwa pengetahuan remaja tentang IMS pada siswa SMA perkotaan sebagian besar berada dalam kategori baik sedangkan pada siswa SMA/SMK pedesaan sebagian besar berada dalam kategori cukup. Sikap remaja tentang IMS pada siswa SMA/SMK perkotaan dan pedesaan sebagian besar baik. Simpulan penelitian ini ialah remaja perkotaan memiliki pengetahuan yang lebih baik mengenai IMS dibandingkan remaja di pedesaan namun tidak terdapat perbedaan sikap remaja yang bermakna mengenai IMS antara kedua wilayah. Pemerataan pendidikan di Indonesia dibutuhkan di wilayah perkotaan dan pedesaan.Kata kunci: infeksi menular seksual, remaja, pengetahuan, sikap, perkotaan dan pedesaan


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e032950
Author(s):  
Hanna Vautrin ◽  
Nicolas Senn ◽  
Christine Cohidon

ObjectivesTo describe the activities of general practitioners (GPs) pertaining to primary prevention in the field of affective and sexual life, studying the advice they provide as well as their vaccination practices.DesignCross-sectional national survey.Setting/participantsThe study was carried out using the Swiss Primary Care Active Monitoring GPs’ network, a national GP network created in 2012. One hundred and seventy Swiss GPs, from a random sample from professional lists stratified by canton, participated in the present study.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPrevention practices against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) performed by GPs through advice provided as well as their vaccination practices. Predictive factor of these practices through their links with the doctors’ relevant characteristics and their opinions about STI prevention.ResultsApproximately 80% consider prevention in the area of affective and sexual life to be part of their duty and discuss it easily with patients. Most of them spontaneously give advice regarding STIs during a routine consultation. Regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation in adults, almost half of GPs report never doing it, while almost 75% often or always immunise their adult patients against hepatitis B. Higher numbers of consultations per day are associated with vaccinating more adults against HPV (OR 1.13 (1.05 to 1.23)) and against hepatitis A (OR 1.17 (1.05 to 1.31)). Vaccinating children against hepatitis B is associated with practising in rural areas (OR 4.64 (1.20 to 17.98)). GPs practising in the French-speaking region of Switzerland immunise children less against HPV (OR 0.40 (0.20 to 0.80)). Longer consultations are associated with providing advice on affective and sexual life during a first consultation (OR 1.08 (1.01 to 1.14)).ConclusionSwiss GPs are involved in primary prevention against STIs and consider it as their responsibility. Prevention practices are associated with GPs’ favourable opinions on prevention.


2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
TABITHA LANGENI

This study set out to investigate the influence of male circumcision and other factors on sexually transmitted infections in Botswana. A syndromic approach, which diagnoses a sexually transmitted infection based on the presence of urethral discharge or genital ulcers rather than on laboratory tests, was used. The data were from the 2001 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey where a nationally representative, randomly selected sample of men and women aged 10–64 years were interviewed in both urban and rural areas. The sample selected for this study consisted of 216,480 men aged 15–64 years who had ever had sexual intercourse. The logistic regression technique was executed to examine the association between male circumcision and self-reported urethral discharge or genital ulcers, while controlling for all other independent variables in the analysis. The main finding of this study was that among men who are circumcised, the odds for self-reported urethral discharge or genital ulcers are significantly lower than for those men who are not circumcised in both urban and rural Botswana. The analysis also showed that the odds in favour of self-reported urethral discharge or genital ulcers, for men who drink alcohol, are twice as large as those for men who do not drink alcohol, controlling for all other independent variables in the analysis. Religion and ethnicity also came through as factors exerting a protective influence against self-reported symptoms of sexually transmitted infections. The conclusion is that while male circumcision appears to be significantly associated with the risk for self-reported urethral discharge or genital ulcers, it is man’s behaviour, irrespective of ethnicity or religious dictates, that continues to play a vital role in protection against self-reported symptoms of sexually transmitted infections in Botswana.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Collins Adu ◽  
Aliu Mohammed ◽  
Eugene Budu ◽  
James Boadu Frimpong ◽  
Justice Kannor Tetteh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remain a major public health challenge worldwide. Despite the importance of sexual autonomy in the prevention and control of sexual and reproductive health disorders such as STIs, there are limited studies on the possible relationship between women’s sexual autonomy and self-reported STIs, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study, therefore, examined the association between sexual autonomy and self-reported STIs among women in sexual unions in SSA.Methods Data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 31 countries in SSA conducted between 2010 and 2019 were analysed. A total of 234,310 women in sexual unions were included in the study. Data were analysed using binary logistic regression models and the results were presented as crude odds ratios (cORs) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) at 95% confidence interval (CI). Results The prevalence of self-reported STIs among women in sexual unions in SSA was 5.8%. Approximately 83.0% of the women surveyed had sexual autonomy. Women who had no sexual autonomy were less likely to have self-reported STIs (cOR=0.52, CI: 0.46-0.54), compared to those who had sexual autonomy. Additionally, higher odds of self-reported STIs were found among women aged 25-29, compared to those aged 15-19 (aOR= 1.21, CI: 1.09-1.35); those who reside in urban areas, compared to those who reside in rural areas (aOR= 1.51, CI: 1.37-1.66) and those who were cohabiting, compared to those who were married (aOR= 1.65, CI: 1.52-1.79). On the other hand, lower odds of self-reported STIs were found among women who were exposed to newspapers (aOR= 0.89, CI: 0.82-0.95), those whose partners had primary education (aOR= 0.84, CI: 0.78-0.91), those who were not exposed to radio (aOR= 0.84, CI: 0.79-0.89), and working women (aOR= 0.86, CI: 0.80-0.93). Conclusion Findings from this study suggest that sexual autonomy is a significant predictor of self-reported STIs among women in sexual unions in SSA. Thus, instituting policies and programs that empower women and improve their levels of sexual autonomy may result in increased self-reporting of symptoms associated with STIs which subsequently help in minimising STI-related complications. Also, policies aimed at enhancing women’s sexual autonomy may reduce the burden of STIs in SSA, especially among women in sexual unions.


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