[Health-worker barriers to syphilis screening in pregnant women in Bolivia's Los Andes network].

OBJECTIVE

Identify health-worker barriers that keep pregnant women who receive prenatal care from being screened for syphilis (Los Andes Health Network, Bolivia).

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were done with 46 health care providers and 249 clinical health records of pregnant women were analyzed in eight public health facilities in the Los Andes network.

RESULTS

Health-worker barriers to syphilis screening in pregnant women included lack of time by personnel to raise awareness of the benefit of syphilis screening; some mentioned that syphilis tests should only be done in facilities that attend deliveries and have a laboratory; lack of communication between clinicians and laboratory personnel; and problems with provision of supplies and reagents. The clinical record review found that only 55.4% contained syphilis laboratory results and only 37.4% of perinatal clinical histories had records of laboratory results. The interviews found that providers believe that syphilis screening is done in 100% of pregnant women receiving prenatal care.

CONCLUSION

Syphilis screening is not being done according to Bolivia's strategy for the elimination of congenital syphilis, and is not done on more than half of pregnant women in prenatal care with perinatal clinical history records. This is not perceived by health professionals and can become a barrier to syphilis screening in pregnant women.