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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Avni Amin, PhD, Senior Program Associate, Center for Health and Gender Equity, 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 910, Takoma Park, MD 20912, 301-270-1182, aamin@genderhealth.org and Margaret E. Bentley, PhD, Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill, CB 7400, McGavran Greenberg, School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
Community-based studies from India, documenting high levels of RTI, have highlighted the need to look at women's perceptions of RTI morbidity. The objective of this paper is to find ways to prevent and treat RTI among rural women in India by examining perceived severity associated RTI symptoms in the context of women’s everyday lives.
Data are presented from 6 villages of a district in the state of Gujarat, India. For qualitative data, a sample of 18 women reporting one or more RTI symptoms within a 6-month recall period was interviewed. For the survey, a sample of 573 all ever-married women in reproductive age group from 4 villages was interviewed.
In-depth interviews focused on women's experiences of, and treatment seeking behaviors for RTI symptoms. The survey questionnaire focused on household and demographic information, reported RTI symptoms, perceived severity and treatment sought.
Only 30% of women reporting symptoms rank them "very severe". Symptoms are ranked "severe" only when they interfere with work, cause weakness, last a long time and create tensions in household relationships. Household economic status (OR=11.28) is a significant predictor of perceived severity for symptoms of vaginal discharge.
Women's breakpoint for recognizing RTI symptoms as morbidity is shaped by social and economic circumstances. The WHO definition of health needs to include women's own notions of health, and measures of workload and access to resources as indicators of wellbeing. Education efforts should not only provide information on RTI, but also address women's understanding of optimal health.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Health Behavior, Gender
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.