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Introduction : A proper understanding of different aspects of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in different regions of a country like India is very essential for STI control. Objectives : To assess pattern of STIs using Syndromic approach among patients attending at Suraksha Clinic and to find out treatment seeking behaviour among them. Material and Method : A cross-sectional study was conducted at a Tertiary Care Hospital of West Bengal. This retrospective study was done selecting all patients who attended the Clinic for first time from 1st May, 2020 to 30th April, 2021. Relevant records were reviewed. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used. Observations : In present study Suraksha Clinic attendees were mainly comprised of female (95.8%); while 65.8% and 64.2% of patients were suffering from Lower abdominal pain and Cervicovaginal discharge respectively. Nearly one-third of them (37.9%) were suffering from more than one disease. About one-fourth of patients (28.2%) accessed the STI/RTI/Suraksha Clinic directly. The treatment seeking behaviour was significantly associated with gender and education of patients. Conclusions : This Tertiary Care Hospital based study highlighted higher prevalence of certain STIs among attendees to Suraksha Clinic as well as lower proportion of male and directly walk-in patient
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Background: Aging is a complex and universal life process. Treatment seeking behaviour in elderly is affected by socioeconomic factors and by affordability, availability and accessibility of healthcare. Objectives: To study treatment-seeking behaviour of the study subjects. To compare treatment seeking behaviour among rural and urban study subjects. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Kanpur district. Selection of villages in rural and mohallas in urban areas was done using a multistage random sampling technique. A total of 600 subjects were studied, including 400 from urban areas and 200 from rural areas. Elderly persons>60 years of age, both males and females were included in the study. Results: Overall, out of 600 study subjects, 59.8% were taking treatment in rural areas and in urban areas 77.6% were taking treatment. In urban areas, more females availed treatment compared to rural areas. Majority of study subjects (56.5%) sought treatment from a government hospital. Only 36% subjects had health insurance. Conclusion: In Urban areas more subjects availed treatment as compared to rural areas. Majority of subjects sought treatment from government health facilities. Lack of financial support and long waiting time were major reasons for not availing health care.
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This study explored the profile of HIV positive patients seeking treatment at a tertiary care addiction treatment facility. A retrospective study was done to collet detailed information on clinical characteristics: drug use (type, age of initiation, duration), general medical condition and past treatment history. The study included 138 patients with mean (SD) age 30.2 (8.3) years. Opioid dependence with injecting drug use (IDU) was diagnosed in 97% of the patients. The median age of injecting onset was 24.5 years (IQR 20-31 years). The most frequently injected substances were pheniramine (60.1%) and buprenorphine (59.4%). Past treatment seeking was reported by 57% patients and interestingly they were less likely to present any medical condition (2 =69.611, p < 0.001). Variability in the age of onset of drug use indicates the need for broad based approach to prevent IDU and motivation to seek treatment may lead to better health conditions.
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Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is estimated to be the fourth leading cause of disability in most of the countries. It is the most frequent joint disease with a prevalence of 22% to 39% in India. The objectives of the study were to assess the effect of OA of knee on activities of daily living using Western Ontario and McMasters University Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) index and treatment seeking behaviour of patient with OA of knee.Methods: Convenience sampling was used to find out patients of OA from 15th April to 1st June 2016 with cross-section type of study design. Data was collected and analyzed using MS Excel 2000.Results: In this study 16% of participants in underweight category and 79% participants in overweight category reported moderate to very severe pain on visual analogue score (VAS). Treatment seeking behaviour was quite poor in lower socio-economic class (SEC) as compared to upper SEC. 20.34% participants had extreme pain while walking. 9.74% participants experienced extreme level of morning stiffness while 18.72% had extreme difficulty while ascending stairs. 14.87% experienced extreme difficulty during getting standing position from sitting position.Conclusions: Moderate to severe pain on VAS was more common in overweight group compared to underweight group. Treatment seeking behaviour was quite poor in lower SEC as compared to upper SEC. 20.34% participants had extreme pain while walking. 14.87% experienced extreme difficulty during getting standing position from sitting position.
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Introduction: Vitamin B12 Deficiency has become animportant health concern in the recent times. Acknowledgingthe health of medical professionals shall improve the healthstatus of the community as they form a classified population ofthe society. The present study was done with an aim to assessthe treatment seeking behavior of the doctors in RNT MedicalCollege, Udaipur who were found deficient in Vitamin B12levels.Material and methods: Two focused group discussionswere conducted in the department of Community Medicinewith a strength of 13 and 17 each, few pre-decided questionswere asked to the groups by the moderator and answers werereported by the recorder in the form of tally sheets.Results: Maximum doctors were interested in taking Oraltreatment by self, most of them were consuming ReverseOsmosis water and most common clinical feature theyexpressed were weakness and fatigue.Conclusion: Vitamin B12 deficiency is becoming a silentepidemic which needs to be addressed as it is affecting all thegroups of the society and thus further large scale multicentricstudies are needed to address this issue at the global level.
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Background: As malaria is among the leading public health problems globally as well as in India, early diagnosis and treatment of cases is one of the key interventions for its control and elimination. Present study was done to assess treatment-seeking behaviour and associated factors among malaria suspected patients.Methods: Present study was carried out at urban health and training center, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. The hospital based prospective study by facility based identification of patients. Study was under taken from 1st Oct 2018 to 31st march 2019. All malaria suspected cases of fever cases who got tested for malaria. Purposive sampling technique. After a pilot study final questionnaire regarding treatment seeking behavior were used to collect information from 285 patients of fever data was analyzed in word excel 2007 using percentage and proportion.Results: In present study we found that out of 285 patients only 54 (18.94%) patient approached health facility within 24 hours. Majority of patient 93(32.63%) adopted self medication practice, 20.00% patient, who did nothing and waited for self resolution of fever. Majority of 39.82% answered mildness of disease as a reason for delay in getting treatment.Conclusions: A low proportion of malaria-suspected patients sought treatment within 24 h of fever onset compared to the national target. Awareness about the advantage early treatment-seeking need to be increased through health education and behavioural change communication.
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Background and Objective: There have been numerous studies of oral health status of school children and young population; however, similar studies in elderly population in India are lacking. With advances in medical science and consequent increase in life expectancy, elderly population is on the rise and is a subject of growing concern for public health policy. Hence, an attempt was made to study factors influencing decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, oral health awareness, and dental treatment-seeking behavior of elderly population. Methods: A cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted between September 2014 and December 2014 in villages in rural Maharashtra. Sociodemographic and health-related information were collected from 352 participants 60 years of age and above in 10 villages. Results: Prevalence of dental caries was 76.4% in a study population with median DMFT score of 12 with interquartile range of 7–22. The majority of the participants cleaned their teeth with fingers using charcoal and mishri. Only 17.2% participants used toothbrush. About 39% participants had experienced dental pain, of which majority did not visit dentist. The median DMFT index who used toothbrush and toothpaste was significantly less when compared with participants who did not use tooth brush and tooth paste. The majority of the participants had one or more missing teeth, but only 2.2% were using dentures. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for comprehensive oral health educational programs, and accessible and affordable oral health services to be provided to rural community.
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Adolescents girls face major problems related to menstrual abnormalities which lead to morbidity that may have an adverse effect on their school attendance. The objective of this study was to collect and analyse data on prevalence of menstrual patterns and menstrual disorders among adolescent girls attending Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health clinic in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Rohtas, Bihar and assessing their treatment seeking behaviour. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study o 140 girls in the age group of 10-19 years in a study period of one year. Demographic information and characteristics of menstrual bleeding were noted. Results: The study sample consisted of 140 girls with mean age 14.9± 2.5 years. Most of the girls were in the age group 12-14 years (37.8%). 79.3% girls had attained menarche at a mean age of 12.5 ± 1.3 years. The most common menstrual disorder was painful menstruation seen in 66.7% girls. The mean number of bleeding days was observed to be 5±1.7 days. The most common associated symptom reported by girls was backache. As per treatment seeking behaviour of adolescent girls, only 25.5% girls with history of heavy menstrual bleeding, 27% with painful menses and 34.8% with irregular cycles took medical advice by a doctor. Oligomenorrhoea was observed in 11.7% girls. Conclusion: In spite of high prevalence of menstrual disorder, only a few adolescent girls seek expert medical advice. There is a need to create awareness among girls about seeking medical advice for menstrual problems.
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Introduction: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of menopausal symptoms, its effect to the quality of life and their treatment seeking behaviour in a multiracial community in Malaysia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving postmenopausal women in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data was obtained by face-to-face interview using standardised questionnaires on sociodemographic data, Menopause Rating Scale questionnaire, effect to quality of life and treatment sought. Results: A total of 258 women, including Malays (82%), Indians (14.1%) and Chinese (3.9%) were recruited. The median age was 58 (range 45-86) years old. Joint and muscular discomfort (73.3%) and fatigue (59.3%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Significant association with ethnicity were demonstrated with Malays was found to have 3.1 times higher incidence of sexual problems than Indians, (Odds Ratio (OR) 3.103; 95%CI 1.209, 7.967) and Indian had 2.6 times higher incidence of irritability compared to Malays (OR 2.598; 95%CI 1.126, 5.992). Fifty-two percent of women felt that menopausal symptoms affected their quality of life but there were only 2.7% who were severely affected. There were 24.8% of women who sought treatment and only 20.3% of those who took hormone replacement therapy. There was no significant association found between their treatment seeking behaviour in association with ethnicity, age, parity, marital and occupational status. Conclusion: Menopausal symptoms were prevalent among menopausal women, although only a small group of women who were severely affected. There was a lack of tendency in seeking treatment for menopausal symptoms among the women.
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Menopause , Quality of LifeABSTRACT
This study aimed at investigating the utilization of TCM services and exploring the influencing factors,such as education,economic condition,health condition,attitude to TCM treatment and TCM health literacy,of TCM treatment-seeking behavior in the elders in Zhejiang Province.In this study,a cross-sectional study with stratified sampling was adopted for the further investigation of the elders over 55 years by questionnaire.The questionnaire contained four aspects:1.demographic information:gender,age,education,pension mode,medicare and self-evaluation of economic level;2.health status:self-evaluation of health and current diseases;3.attitude to TCM treatment:Would you accept the TCM health services? 4.health literacy:self-made KAB questionnaire including health knowledge,attitude and behavior.Nine hundred and fifty questionnaires were issued and 945 valid questionnaires were returned.Among them,four hundred and eighty-four cases were male and 461 were female.The average age was 72.0 ± 8.9 years with a low level of education,mainly junior high school or lower (88.3％).Over the past year,only 50.11％ elders sought for TCM treatment.Generally speaking,age,gender,education,pension mode and health behavior showed no significant association with TCM treatment.The elders seeking for TCM treatment over the past year held favorable attitude to TCM treatment and high economic status,yet,with poor health status,high prevalence and health literacy (or health attitudes).It was concluded that the utilization rate of TCM services in the elders in Zhejiang Province was not optimist,probably resulting from the lack of publicity and market competitiveness of TCM.Therefore,TCM services should be promoted to meet the health needs of the elders and enhance the utilization rate of TCM services for the achievement of a significant role in the aging society in China.
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Rabies is 100% fatal zoonotic disease which can be prevented by appropriate anti rabies post exposure prophylaxis. The incidence of animal bite is managed poorly due to ignorance and rampant myths & misconceptions. It is discovered that a vital time period is lost in taking medical aid as people due to ignorance opt for traditional medications the authenticity of which is not completely established. Aims & objectives: 1) To study the social, demographic characteristics of victims of animal bites. 2) To study the treatment seeking behavior of persons and to find their correlations. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study. The respondents were selected amongst new cases of animal bites attending Anti Rabies clinic of Gandhi medical college Bhopal M.P. India for 3 months using pretested questionnaire. Data was analyzed & interpreted using percentages and tests of significance using Epi info 7. Results: Out of total 315 cases of animal bite nearly 38.75% were below 15 years of age. In total, 82.5% cases were bitten by dogs. The majority of cases (73%) had a category III bite, only 45% consulted within 24 hours of the bite. Nearly 9% did not wash the wound with soap & water instead applied home remedies or opted for traditional or non-allopathic treatment. A statistically significant (P <0.0001) association was found between educational status & knowledge of fatality due to rabies. Conclusions: Rising level of literacy enhances knowledge about the fatality of rabies.
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Background: In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), few studies have focused on treatment-seeking paths selected by caretakers for the management of severe childhood malaria in an urban environment. The present study aims at describing the treatment-seeking paths according to the characteristics of households, as well as the subsequent impact on pre-hospitalisation delay and malarial fatality and on the main syndromes associated with severe childhood malaria. Methods: This descriptive study included data collected at nine hospitals in Kinshasa between January and November 2011. A total of 1,350 children, under 15 years of age and hospitalised for severe malaria, were included in the study. Results: Regarding the management of malaria, 31.5% of households went directly to the health centre or hospital while 68.5% opted for self-medication, church and/or traditional healing therapy. The most frequent first-line option was self-medication, adopted by more than 61.5% of households. Nevertheless, rational self-medication using antimalarial drugs recommended by the WHO (artemisinin-based combinations) was reported for only 5.5% of children. Only 12.5% of households combined 2 or 3 traditional options. The following criteria influenced the choice of a modern <i>vs</i>. traditional path: household socioeconomic level, residential environment, maternal education level and religious beliefs. When caretakers opted for traditional healing therapy, the pre-hospitalisation delay was longer and the occurrence of respiratory distress, severe anaemia and mortality was higher. Conclusion: The implementation of a malaria action plan in the Democratic Republic of Congo should take into account the diversity and pluralistic character of treatment-seeking behaviours in order to promote the most appropriate options (hospital and rational self-medication) and to avoid detrimental outcomes.
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OBJECTIVES: To understand the prevalence of postpartum morbidities and factors associated with treatment-seeking behaviour among currently married women aged 15-49 residing in rural India. METHODS: We used data from the nationally representative District Level Household Survey from 2007-2008. Cross-tabulation was used to understand the differentials for the prevalence of postpartum morbidities and treatment-seeking behaviours across selected background characteristics. Two-level binary logistic regression was applied to understand the factors associated with treatment-seeking behaviour. RESULTS: Approximately 39.8% of rural women suffered from at least one of the six postpartum morbidities including high fever, lower abdominal pain, foul-smelling vaginal discharge, excessive bleeding, convulsions, and severe headache. Morbidities were more prevalent among poor, illiterate, Muslim, and high-parity women. About 55.1% of these rural women sought treatment/consultation for their problems. The odds of seeking treatment/consultation increased as economic status and years of schooling among both the woman and her husband increased. Poor, uneducated, unemployed, Hindu, and tribal women were less likely to seek treatment/consultation for postpartum morbidities than their counterparts were. The odds of seeking treatment/consultation decreased as the distance to the nearest private health facility increased. Most women visited a private hospital (46.3%) or a friend/family member's home (20.8%) for treatment/consultation. Only a small percentage visited publicly funded health institutions such as a primary health centre (8.8%), community health centre (6.5%), health sub-centre (2.8%), or district hospital (13.1%). Rural women from the northeast region of India were 50% less likely to seek treatment/consultation than women from the central region were. CONCLUSIONS: Providing antenatal and delivery care, and ensuring nearby government healthcare facilities are available to serve rural women might increase the likelihood of care-seeking for postpartum morbidities. Targeted interventions for vulnerable groups should be considered in future policies to increase the likelihood women will seek treatment or advice postpartum.
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Female , Humans , Abdominal Pain , Delivery of Health Care , Family Characteristics , Family Conflict , Fever , Financial Management , Headache , Health Facilities , Hemorrhage , Hospitals, District , Hospitals, Private , India , Islam , Logistic Models , Postpartum Period , Prevalence , Seizures , Spouses , Vaginal DischargeABSTRACT
Background: In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fewstudies have focused on treatment-seeking paths selected by caretakers for themanagement of severe childhood malaria in an urban environment. The presentstudy aims at describing the treatment-seeking paths according to thecharacteristics of households, and the subsequent impact on pre-hospitalisationdelay and malarial fatality, as well as on the main syndromes associated withsevere childhood malaria. Methods: This descriptive study included data collected in nine hospitals ofKinshasa between January and November 2011. A total of 1,350 children, under 15years of age and hospitalised for severe malaria, were included in the study. Results: Regarding the management of malaria, 31.5% of households directly wentto the health centre or hospital while 68.5% of them opted for self-medication,church and/or traditional healing therapy. The most frequent first-line optionwas self-medication, adopted by more than 61.5% of households. Nevertheless,rational self-medication relying on the use of antimalarial drugs recommendedby the WHO (artemisinin-based combinations), was only reported for 5.5% ofchildren. Only 12.5% of households combined 2 or 3 traditional options. Thefollowing criteria influenced the choice of a modern <i>vs.</i> a traditional path: household socioeconomic level, residentialenvironment, mother educational level and religious beliefs. When caretakersopted for traditional healing therapy, the pre-hospitalisation delay was longerwhile the occurrence of respiratory distress, severe anaemia and mortality wasmore frequent. Conclusion: The implementation of a malaria action plan in the Democratic Republic of Congo shouldtake into account the diversity and pluralistic character of treatment-seekingbehaviours, in order to promote the most appropriate options (hospital andrational self-medication) and avoid the deadliest severe forms.
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Primary health care as stated in the Alma Ata declaration underscores the importance of health education as one of the key methods of preventing and controlling prevailing health problems. This study seeks to test the effect of health education on perception and treatment seeking behaviour among care givers of under fives in a rural setting in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study design was a quasi-experimental study carried out in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State. A multistage random sampling technique was used in choosing the required samples for this study and a semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information. The intervention consisted of a structured educational programme based on a course content adapted from the national malaria control programme. A total of 400 respondents were recruited into the study with 200 each in both the experimental and control groups and were followed up for a period of 3 months when the knowledge and treatment seeking behaviour was reassessed. There was no statistically significant differences observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of socio-dermographic characteristics such as age [p=0.99], marital status [p=0.48], religion [p=0.1], and income [p=0.51]. The highest proportion of mothers reported malaria [45% & 47%] in experimental and control groups respectively, followed by Upper respiratory tract infection [22% & 25%], diarrhoea and vomiting [14% & 17%], measles [12% & 15%], convulsion [8% & 11%] and others [3% & 5%]. Only 52.1% (experimental) and 48% (control) groups of mothers believed that fever can kill a child. Furthermore, about 40% (experimental) and 44% (control) groups believed fever was not fatal while 8.0% of both groups were not sure. Post intervention, these differences were not statistically significant. The proportion of those who got their source of information about prevention of fever from health worker increased from 60.0% (preintervention) to 95.0% (post-intervention) (p<0.001) compared to the control group which increased from 62.0% (pre-intervention) to 62.5% (post-intervention) (p>0.001). Furthermore, 72.9% & 50.8% of respondents in the experimental and control group respectively commenced treatment at the right time (first day of fever). There was a significant increase of 24.6% [p=0.001] post intervention in the experimental group with no significant change in the control [p=0.64]. The study concludes that a systematic health education programme to caregivers should be a component of Roll back Malaria programme in Africa. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment is essential to control of infection and this can only be effectively carried out by those at the frontline of care at home.
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The socio-cultural and economic contexts in developing countries influence the epidemiology or STls and helps in making them an important public health priority. This study was carried out to explore the health care seeking pathway of the women suffering from RTls/STls. influence or major socio-demographic variables on treatment seeking pattern. This cross sectional study was carried out comprising or eight hundred reproductive age (15-49 years) women selected following a multistage sampling procedure. The information pertaining to health seeking behaviour were collected from them using a pre-designed pretested interview schedule. Quantum of RTls/STls in the study group was estimated and symptomatics were asked specially about time lag between appearance of symptoms and seeking acre; reason for not seeking care; outcome of treatment they have taken if any. Out of total 359 subjects with symptoms of RTls/STls only about one-third (37.3%) had sought treatment. Only a few (4.5%) had sought treatment within 1 month of appearance of symptoms. Considering it to be physiological about half of the subjects (45.3%) did not seek treatment. The treatment seeking pattern was highly associated with the level of education (p=0.000). Reluctance in seeking treatment, delay in its initiation, prelerencc for unqualified practitioners in first consultation and significant association between education and treatment seeking pattern emphasize BCC and service provision for control and prevention of RTls/STls.
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Background & objectives: For management of malaria, there is a need to give attention on specific group of people like children <5 yr of age in the community. They are unable to explain their feelings about severity of illness and effects of treatment on health and they are dependent on others for their health care, therefore, it is the mother who can seek, obtain, and use medication appropriately. This is directly linked to the level of education, socioeconomic status, timely decision, accessibility of health facility, correct use of drugs and their follow-up. The present study was undertaken with the aim to know the basis on which malaria was recognized and classified and exploring factors involved in the selection of different treatment options in the desert population of Rajasthan. Methods: Interview and observation techniques were used for data collection in 15 villages of Ramgarh PHC in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan state, India. A total of 164 mothers were interviewed and observations were made by the investigators in the group discussions who utilized health facility for the febrile children <5 yr of age. Results: More than 93.3% mothers started taking care at home for their febrile children and watched for improvement on an average up to 72 h. When they thought there was no hope to manage the case at their level, they shifted their febrile children to the nearest health facility such as sub-centre/PHC/private health practitioner. Utilization of health facility was linked with the age of the child, with younger children (<24 months of age) being significantly more likely to be utilized nearby health facility than 24–59 months children. Children judged as severely ill by their mothers utilized health facility significantly more often than those not thought to be severely ill. Mothers from households where the household heads had a primary or secondary education were more likely to utilize health facility than those household heads having no education. Similarly, mothers from households with moderate or high income utilized health facility more frequently than those with low income. Interpretation & conclusion: The study revealed that mothers usually tried to manage febrile cases at their own level at home for children <5 yr of age. They had gone through different treatment options before utilizing health facilities. There was, on an average three days delay in seeking care in the remote villages of desert part of Rajasthan. To minimize the delay in diagnosis and treatment of malaria among the children <5 yr of age is an urgent need for intervening through IEC programme and trained volunteers for the management of malaria cases at village-level.
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A population based cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the awareness, attitude, and treatment seeking behaviour regarding TB in rural Tamil Nadu. Out of 1985 people interviewed, 56% had heard of TB, but 80% were not aware of the cause and mode of spread of TB. Television was reported to be the main source of information (45%). Only 34% people were aware that treatment for TB was available free of cost. Less than 10% people felt the need to maintain confidentiality, if contracted TB. More than 80% people preferred to visit Government hospital, if developed TB, whereas 54% actually sought treatment from government hospital for cough of more than three weeks.
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BACKGROUND: Social interests and the prevalence of skin disease have increased rapidly along with social development and improvement of life quality. Information on skin diseases and aesthetics are available through the internet and mass media. However, there have been few studies on the value of this information and the treatment-seeking behavior of patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the recognition of skin health and diseases in patients who visit dermatology clinics and to improve the role of dermatologists in the process. METHODS: From March, 2008, to April, 2008, 1901 patients were asked to complete a questionnaire in 62 dermatologic hospitals. The questions covered: purposes of visiting the clinic; duration of skin disease; treatment-seeking behavior; recognition of the prescribed medicine; compliance and common sense about representative skin problems. RESULTS: Patients visited the dermatologic clinic because of skin disease for 67.39% of patients, esthetic treatment in 22.88% of patients, and both in 9.73% of patients. For visits to a dermatology clinic for skin problems, 61.28% of patients visited a clinic but 38.72% did not. Most (81.38%) patients followed the doctor's prescription. Most negative responses to prescribed medicine were due to the internet and mass media or wrong information from pharmacists (52.24%). Moreover, patients who learned about skin diseases and prescription medicines through the internet usually lacked compliance and common sense regarding their skin problems. CONCLUSION: The internet can provide good information about healthy skin and skin diseases, but we have to consider its disadvantages of exaggeration and misbelief. The effects of this tool have been overstated and excessively publicized in comparison to actual established clinical results. Use of the internet may delay diagnosis and decrease compliance. Consequently, dermatologists have to provide correct information to minimize the disadvantages of internet information. Patients who have abnormal skin problems should visit dermatologic clinics to be evaluated and treated appropriately.
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Humans , Compliance , Dermatology , Esthetics , Internet , Mass Media , Outpatients , Pharmacists , Prescriptions , Prevalence , Quality of Life , Skin , Skin Diseases , Social Change , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the treatment-seeking behaviors of Korean university women with premenstrual symptoms. METHODS: Of 1419 subjects who randomly selected in 4 women's university in Seoul, 771 who experienced at least one premenstrual symptom during past three months were included in this study. Treatment-seeking behaviors for relieving premenstrual symptoms were grouped into five categories [doctor's prescription, self-prescription with over-the-counter drug, use of oriental medicine, use of other conservative-alternative medicine (CAM), nonpharmacological treatment]. We investigated what the preferential treatment was and how many subjects were experienced the medical evaluation by doctor. The attitude and knowledge to premenstrual symptoms were evaluated. RESULTS: Subjects who experienced at least one kind of treatment for relieving premenstrual symptoms were 50.2% of women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and 63.6% of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Nonpharmacological treatment such as exercise or rest was the most preferential treatment. Only 2.3% of PMDD was examined and prescribed by doctor. Subjects with doctor's or oriental doctor's prescription had more severe premenstrual symptoms and showed functional impairment than others. Only 7% of university women reported to know well about premenstrual symptoms and their treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that Korean university women prefer self-diagnosis and self-prescription to the evaluation and prescription by doctor for relieving premenstrual symptoms even though they suffer from PMDD. It indicates that the adequate evaluation and treatment for premenstrual symptoms are not carried out because of the lack of knowledge about them. Therefore, the correct information about symptoms and management of PMS and PMDD should be serviced to general population. Also, systematic evaluation of efficacy and safety of oriental medicine and other CAM for premenstrual symptom is needed.