College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Centre for Gender and Advocacy, Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana.
Sex Transm Infect. 2023 Aug;99(5):296-302. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2022-055424. Epub 2022 Oct 6.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) constitute major public health problems because of their prevalence and contribution to mortality and morbidity worldwide. Healthcare seeking for STIs plays a significant role in the global prevention of STIs. We examined the prevalence and factors associated with healthcare seeking for STIs or STI symptoms among women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Data on 38 394 women of reproductive age from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of 28 countries in SSA were analysed. Percentages were used to summarise the prevalence of healthcare seeking for STIs or STIs symptoms. The factors associated with healthcare seeking for STIs or STI symptoms were examined using multilevel binary logistic regression analysis. We presented the results using adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Overall, the proportion of women with STIs or STI symptoms who sought healthcare was 66.1%, with the highest and lowest proportion found in Liberia (85.6%) and Ethiopia (37.9%) respectively. The likelihood of seeking healthcare for STIs or STI symptoms increased with increasing wealth quintile and level of education. Working women, older women, cohabiting women, women with comprehensive HIV/AIDS knowledge, women exposed to mass media, those who had no barrier to healthcare access, and those covered by health insurance had greater odds of seeking treatment for STIs or STI symptoms. On the contrary, the odds of seeking treatment for STIs or STI symptoms was lower among married women and women who lived in rural areas.
The findings of the study call for strengthening of policies, programmes, and interventions geared towards improving thehealthcare-seeking behaviour of women with STIs, taking into consideration the factors identified in this study.
性传播感染（STIs）是全球主要的公共卫生问题，因为它们的流行率以及对全球死亡率和发病率的影响。寻求性传播感染的医疗服务在全球 STIs 预防中起着重要作用。我们研究了撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）地区育龄妇女寻求性传播感染或性传播感染症状治疗的流行情况及其相关因素。
分析了来自 SSA 28 个国家最近的人口与健康调查中 38394 名育龄妇女的数据。使用百分比来总结寻求性传播感染或性传播感染症状治疗的流行率。使用多级二元逻辑回归分析来检查与寻求性传播感染或性传播感染症状治疗相关的因素。我们使用调整后的优势比（aOR）和 95%置信区间（CI）来呈现结果。
总体而言，患有性传播感染或性传播感染症状的妇女中有 66.1%寻求了医疗服务，其中利比里亚（85.6%）和埃塞俄比亚（37.9%）的比例最高和最低。寻求性传播感染或性传播感染症状治疗的可能性随着财富五分位数和教育水平的增加而增加。职业妇女、年龄较大的妇女、同居妇女、对艾滋病毒/艾滋病知识全面的妇女、接触大众媒体的妇女、无医疗保健障碍的妇女以及有医疗保险的妇女，寻求治疗性传播感染或性传播感染症状的可能性更大。相反，已婚妇女和居住在农村地区的妇女寻求治疗性传播感染或性传播感染症状的可能性较低。
研究结果呼吁加强政策、方案和干预措施，考虑到本研究确定的因素，以改善性传播感染妇女的医疗服务寻求行为。
