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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: 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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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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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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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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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.