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
Abstract 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 scarce. This study aims 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 population-based 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 men and women, having multiple STI related symptoms was positively associated with clinic treatment seeking (men=PRR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.36-2.21; women=PR: 1.41, 95%CI: 1.12-1.78). Approximately one-third of men and women 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 recent STI symptoms have curable STIs. Future studies should explore barriers to care-seeking and strategies to improve STI services..
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Preprint| Erscheinungsjahr: |
2023 |
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| Erschienen: |
2023 |
| Enthalten in: |
bioRxiv.org - (2023) vom: 06. Feb. Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2023 |
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| Sprache: |
Englisch |
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| Beteiligte Personen: |
Ogale, Yasmin P. [VerfasserIn] |
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| Links: |
Volltext [kostenfrei] |
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| doi: |
10.1101/2023.02.01.23285331 |
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| PPN (Katalog-ID): |
XBI038588919 |
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| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a 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 |
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| 520 | |a Abstract 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 scarce. This study aims 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 population-based 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 men and women, having multiple STI related symptoms was positively associated with clinic treatment seeking (men=PRR: 1.73, 95%CI: 1.36-2.21; women=PR: 1.41, 95%CI: 1.12-1.78). Approximately one-third of men and women 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 recent STI symptoms have curable STIs. Future studies should explore barriers to care-seeking and strategies to improve STI services. | ||
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| 700 | 1 | |a Mpagazi, Josephine |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Jackson, Jade C. |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Galiwango, Ronald |0 (orcid)0000-0003-3702-5722 |4 aut | |
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| 700 | 1 | |a Kagaayi, Joseph |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Grabowski, M. Kathryn |4 aut | |
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