Orally and sexually transmitted gonorrhea

Gonorrhea can be transmitted by oral sex and is known as pharyngeal gonorrhea and appears as pharyngitis. Patients with symptomatic gonorrhea infection or other STDs are commonly seen in outpatient departments. Majority of them seek treatment without having adequate understanding regarding the nature of their condition. It is important for a healthy community that the members have information regarding STDs, their spread and preventive measure. The study was conducted during the time period of six months extending from August 2013-January 2014. The data was collected from four tertiary care hospital after obtaining oral and written consent. Patients attending Urology outpatient department with a history of STD were included in the study. Overall 410 patients participated in the study with a response rate of 82%. 315[76.8%] males and 95[23.2%] female participants. 37.8% of females and 36.5 of males with total 36.8% of participants had knowledge that PID is a complication of Gonorrhea. In total 16.3% of the participants knew the correct mode of transmission of Gonorrhea with 22% females and 14.6% males with Odd ratio F/M 1.5. Regarding the best preventive measure for STD, 60.7% considers avoiding multiple sexual partners and engage in spousal relationship [53.7 and 62.8% of females and male respectively, Odds ratio F/M 0.85] is the best way followed by using condoms [20.7% of total participant with an odds F/M of 1.54]. The knowledge in patients regarding Gonorrhea is scant hence it is essential to counter educational needs of the population regarding STD in effective and timely manner