Tetteh Comfort D, Manyeh Alfred K, Ncayiyana Jabulani R, Ginindza Themba G
School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Ghana Health Service, Ayawaso East Municipal Health Directorate, Nima, Accra, Greater Accra Region, Ghana.
Public Health Pract (Oxf). 2025 Jun 26;10:100632. doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2025.100632. eCollection 2025 Dec.
Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) affects about 11 % of women of reproductive age in Ghana. The disease remains insignificant and poorly understood in endemic communities and healthcare professionals across Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices among women of reproductive age towards FGS.
A cross-sectional design based on mixed-method approach was conducted in two schistosomiasis endemic districts in Ghana, Lower Manya-Krobo and Shai Osudoku districts.
The study surveyed 856 women of reproductive age and conducted focused group discussions with 88 opinion leaders, adolescent girls, and women of reproductive age in 20 communities along the Volta Lake. A descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, and inferential statistics were employed on the survey data using STATA SE-18, while thematic analysis was used for the qualitative content using NVivo 20.
The findings revealed that many of the participants had poor knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to FGS, with the Lower Manya-Krobo exhibiting slightly worse scores than Shai Osudoku. Only 17.9 % had heard of FGS before among the 856 participants, and factors such as age above 40 years (AOR6.91, 95 %CI:1.98, 11.84, p < 0.00), 6-10 years stay in community (AOR3.22, 95 %CI:0.49, 5.94, p < 0.00), farmers (AOR9.69, 95 %CI:6.23, 13.17, p < 0.00) statistically predicted knowledge in SOD. Compared to LMK, all age groups, farmers (AOR15.95, 95 %CI:11.72, 20.24, p < 0.00), and heard of FGS (AOR-5.42, 95 %CI: 8.51, -2.34, p < 0.00) influenced their knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The poor knowledge, attitudes, and practices and financial constraints were major barriers that led to self-treatment and delay in seeking care from hospitals.
The study highlighted significant gaps in KAP towards FGS among women in LMK and SOD districts. These findings reflect broader challenges observed in other schistosomiasis-endemic regions, where inadequate education, financial barriers, and limited healthcare infrastructure hinder the effective management of FGS. Addressing these gaps is crucial to improving reproductive health issues and calls for enhanced community-based health education, improved healthcare facility capabilities and resources, training healthcare professionals, and the development of context-specific strategies to address the identified gaps to improve FGS case reporting and management.
女性生殖器血吸虫病（FGS）影响着加纳约11%的育龄妇女。在撒哈拉以南非洲的流行社区和医疗保健专业人员中，该疾病仍然未得到重视且了解不足。目的是评估育龄妇女对FGS的知识、态度和行为。
在加纳的两个血吸虫病流行区，下曼亚-克罗博和沙伊奥苏杜库区，采用基于混合方法的横断面设计。
该研究对856名育龄妇女进行了调查，并与沃尔特湖沿岸20个社区的88名意见领袖、少女和育龄妇女进行了焦点小组讨论。使用STATA SE-18对调查数据进行描述性分析、卡方检验和推断统计，同时使用NVivo 20对定性内容进行主题分析。
研究结果显示，许多参与者对FGS的知识、态度和行为较差，下曼亚-克罗博的得分略低于沙伊奥苏杜库。在856名参与者中，只有17.9%的人之前听说过FGS，40岁以上（优势比6.91，95%置信区间：1.98，11.84，p<0.00）、在社区居住6至10年（优势比3.22，95%置信区间：0.49，5.94，p<0.00）、农民（优势比9.69，95%置信区间：6.23，13.17，p<0.00）等因素在统计上预测了对FGS的了解。与下曼亚-克罗博相比，所有年龄组、农民（优势比15.95，95%置信区间：11.72，20.24，p<0.00）以及听说过FGS（优势比-5.42，95%置信区间：8.51，-2.34，p<0.00）都影响了她们的知识、态度和行为。知识、态度和行为较差以及经济限制是导致自我治疗和延迟就医的主要障碍。
该研究突出了下曼亚-克罗博和沙伊奥苏杜库区妇女对FGS的知识、态度和行为方面的显著差距。这些发现反映了在其他血吸虫病流行地区观察到的更广泛挑战，即教育不足、经济障碍和有限的医疗基础设施阻碍了FGS的有效管理。解决这些差距对于改善生殖健康问题至关重要，需要加强基于社区的健康教育、提高医疗机构的能力和资源、培训医疗保健专业人员，并制定针对具体情况的策略来解决已确定的差距，以改善FGS病例报告和管理。
