Knowledge, attitude and practices of women towards vaginal discharge

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONVaginal discharge (VD) is one of the common problems affecting the reproductive life of women which has high prevalence in South-East Asia.1 A variety of terms for this symptom exist in India like safed panni (white water), dhatu or swed pradhar.2 Perception and beliefs of women about VD vary in different cultures and are related to their attitude towards health seeking behavior. 3For effective treatment of this problem it becomes important to establish etiological diagnosis to get appropriate output for management.4 VD has complex cultural meaning for the people and its loss is considered as a matter of grave concern. Symptoms are most often associated with reproductive tract infection (RTI), cervical pathology and other reproductive disorders. Women with this problem frequently complain of somatic symptoms like progressive weakness, burning hands and feet and backache which do not fit in the biomedical category. Recent studies have shown that most often, women appeared to have no more than physiological discharge or mildly increased discharge associated with overgrowth of naturally occurring vaginal organisms.2 In socio-cultural context, VD needs to be interpreted more broadly than RTI. A purely biological approach may lead to overtreatment with antibiotics.VD is a polysemic symptom which in women has both emotional and physical concern. Variety of beliefs exist in the society pertaining to etiology and remedy of genital secretions. These beliefs form part of the overall cultural orientation of society which views most of the melodies of mind and body through a cultural prism of the Indian system of medicine. 5 Present study has been conducted to determine the existing knowledge, attitude and perception of women regarding VD and to explore the possible measures for improving the reproductive health of women in this part of North India. ABSTRACT Background:Vaginal discharge (VD) is one of the common problems affecting the reproductive life of women which has high prevalence in South-East Asia. The aim was to analyse the knowledge, attitude and perception of women towards vaginal discharge (VD). Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 150 women, above 18 years of age, irrespective of marital status, who presented with VD and its associated symptoms in the Out Patient Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, India. The study involved a period from April 2015 to June 2016. A pre-structured questionnaire was used to record various parameters related to VD. Results: Results of the present study revealed a relationship between the symptoms of VD and various socio-cultural based beliefs. Opinions regarding various aetiological factors and perception of preventive measures were recorded. Conclusions: A direct relationship between knowledge attitude and perception about symptoms of VD and educational status of the patients was observed. The study emphasised the need to take effective measures to educate women about reproductive health at community level.

Knowledge, Attitude and Seeking Care Behaviors of Women about Leucorrhea

“…Our study agreed with Varghese, et al (2017) whose study about knowledge, attitude and practice of women towards vaginal discharge in Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India, They denoted to 60-80%of respondents showed positive attitude towards observance of good genital hygiene. Concerning the effect of treatment, this study agreed with Varghese.…”

A clinicoetiological study of vulvovaginitis in a tertiary care hospital

“…6 Vaginal discharge 88% was the commonest symptom in our study, followed by vulval itching 41.6% and 24% dysuria, which was similar to Kiran CK et al, Kataria U et al, Varghese S et al, and other studies. 3,4,6,11,13,14 The per speculum examination findings of 100% vaginal discharge, 27.2% of vulval pruritic lesions and 31.2% of vaginal inflammation was compared with Sivaranjini R et al 12 The vaginal discharge features in this study showedscanty discharge in majority of cases 78.4% and profuse in 21.6%., which was similar in studies of Kiran CK et al and Sivaranjini R et al 6,12 The consistency of the discharge in our study was thin in 62.4% cases which was high as compared to 37.6% cases with thick discharge. Maximum number of cases 64% had homogenous greyish discharge, followed by 32% curdy white discharge, 3.2% greenish yellow discharge and only 0.8% blood stained discharge and 13.6% had malodoured discharge.…”