Nearly half of adults with symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) did not seek clinical care: A population-based study of treatment-seeking behavior among adults in Rakai, Uganda.

Autor:	Ogale YP; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America., Kennedy CE; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America., Nalugoda F; Rakai Health Sciences Program, Rakai, Uganda., Mpagazi J; Rakai Health Sciences Program, Rakai, Uganda., Jackson JC; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America., Galiwango R; Rakai Health Sciences Program, Rakai, Uganda., Ssekubugu R; Rakai Health Sciences Program, Rakai, Uganda., Kigozi G; Rakai Health Sciences Program, Rakai, Uganda., Denison JA; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America., Gaydos CA; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America., Kagaayi J; Rakai Health Sciences Program, Rakai, Uganda., Grabowski MK; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	PLOS global public health [PLOS Glob Public Health] 2023 May 01; Vol. 3 (5), pp. e0001626. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 01 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pgph.0001626
Abstrakt:	Understanding treatment-seeking behavior is critical to the treatment and control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), yet current data on STI treatment seeking in low-resource settings is rare. This population-based study aimed to describe STI treatment-seeking behavior and identify factors associated with seeking treatment at a clinic among adults with STI-related symptoms in rural Uganda. The STI prevalence study (STIPS) conducted a survey and STI testing among all consenting adults aged 18-49 in two communities in rural south-central Uganda. Of 1,825 participants, 962 individuals self-reported STI symptoms in the past six months; we present descriptive data on treatment seeking and STI prevalence among these individuals. We used multivariable Poisson regressions with robust variance to determine the sociodemographic and symptom-related factors independently associated with seeking STI treatment at a clinic and assessed the association with previous clinic treatment seeking and current STI diagnosis. Forty-three percent of adults who reported STI-related symptoms in the past six months said they did not seek any treatment. Among those who did, 58% sought treatment at a private clinic, 28% at a government clinic, 9% at a pharmacy/drug store, 3% at a traditional healer, 2% at a market/shop, and 5% at another location. Among both males and females, having multiple STI related symptoms was positively associated with clinic treatment seeking (males = PRR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.36-2.21; females = PR: 1.41, 95%CI: 1.12-1.78). Approximately one-third of males and females who reported previously seeking clinic treatment for their symptoms were diagnosed with a curable STI at the time of the survey. In this setting, nearly half of adults with STI-related symptoms are not seeking clinical care and many who report having sought treatment for recent STI symptoms have curable STIs. Future studies should explore barriers to care-seeking and strategies to improve STI services. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. (Copyright: © 2023 Ogale et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:	Zobrazit plný text záznamu