Yirenya-Tawiah Dzidzo R, Ackumey Mercy M, Bosompem Kwabena M
Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana, P.O Box 209, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Reprod Health. 2016 Sep 21;13(1):117. doi: 10.1186/s12978-016-0238-5.
The World Health Organization, in the year 2009, renamed Schistosomiasis haematobium disease, urinary schistosomiasis, as urogenital schistosomiasis. This study, sought to determine whether urogenital schistosomiasis endemic community members were aware of the broadened scope of the disease and associated certain reproductive health related signs and symptoms to S. haematobium infection.
This is a cross-sectional study in which 2,585 respondents aged 15-49 years from 30 riparian communities along the lower arm of the Volta lake were interviewed using a structured questionnaire; 24 focus group discussions were also conducted. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency of responses for each question posed and Chi squared tests used to determine the associations between demographic variables and variables of interest. Binary logistic regression was used to predict the probability of a reported symptom as an indicator of urogenital schistosomiasis. Thematic analysis was used to examine narratives.
Ninety four percent of male respondents and 88.7 % of female respondents acknowledged schistosomiasis as a water-borne disease. Only 207 out of 1,096 subjects (18.9 %) responding to questionnaire agreed to the knowledge that urogenital schistosomiasis can have reproductive health implications. A significant difference in variation in this knowledge was found between males (14.5 %) and females (7.2 %) (p = 0.001). The study also found that, although knowledge on HIV was high, only 12.3 % of respondents knew that urogenital schistosomiasis could facilitate the acquisition of HIV. Women who reported to have ever suffered schistosomiasis were 1.3 and 1.5 times more likely to report vaginal discharge and vaginal itch. Sexual dysfunction (11.1 %) and urethral discharge (10.6 %) were the most frequently reported symptoms among males.
The study finds very limited knowledge on the reproductive health consequences of the disease among endemic communities. It is recommended that health education on urogenital schistosomiasis should also include issues on symptoms of the disease, reproductive health consequences and HIV transmission.
2009年，世界卫生组织将埃及血吸虫病（尿路血吸虫病）重新命名为泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病。本研究旨在确定泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病流行社区的成员是否了解该疾病范围的扩大，以及是否将某些与生殖健康相关的体征和症状与埃及血吸虫感染联系起来。
这是一项横断面研究，使用结构化问卷对来自沃尔特湖下游30个河岸社区的2585名年龄在15至49岁之间的受访者进行了访谈；还进行了24次焦点小组讨论。描述性统计用于确定所提出的每个问题的回答频率，卡方检验用于确定人口统计学变量与感兴趣变量之间的关联。二元逻辑回归用于预测报告症状作为泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病指标的概率。主题分析用于检查叙述内容。
94%的男性受访者和88.7%的女性受访者承认血吸虫病是一种水源性疾病。在1096名回答问卷的受试者中，只有207人（18.9%）认可泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病会对生殖健康产生影响这一知识。在这一知识的知晓率方面，男性（14.5%）和女性（7.2%）之间存在显著差异（p = 0.001）。该研究还发现，尽管对艾滋病病毒的知晓率很高，但只有12.3%的受访者知道泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病会促进艾滋病病毒的感染。报告曾患血吸虫病的女性报告阴道分泌物和阴道瘙痒的可能性分别高出1.3倍和1.5倍。性功能障碍（11.1%）和尿道分泌物（10.6%）是男性中报告最频繁的症状。
该研究发现，流行社区对该疾病的生殖健康后果了解非常有限。建议关于泌尿生殖系统血吸虫病的健康教育还应包括该疾病的症状、生殖健康后果和艾滋病病毒传播等问题。
