Compliance and effectiveness of syndromic approach in females with reproductive tract infections
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Abstract
Background: India has strengthened its fight against sexually transmitted infections(STIs) and reproductive tract infections(RTIs) by implementing syndromic approach at peripheral health centres. However, effective control of STIs and RTIs still remains a huge challenge. One of the biggest hurdles could be patient compliance towards the complete course of treatment. Yet, little is known about its association with the effectiveness of syndromic management of STIs and RTIs.
Aim: This study aimed to assess the patient compliance with syndromic management and its effectiveness.
Methods: A prospective, analytic study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Haryana, India, from March to November 2016. One hundred female patients suffering from any of the following complaints, (a) vaginal discharge; (b) cervical discharge; (c) lower abdominal pain; (d) burning micturition and (e) itching, were screened for RTIs. All eligible patients were interviewed in depth, and treatment was given to them according to syndromic management guidelines of National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). Patients were assessed in terms of clinical cure at the end of the treatment. Assessment of compliance to treatment regimen was made by using modified Morisky scale. Data were entered into excel sheet and analysed by SPSS software version 20 by IBM, Chicago, IL, USA. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were applied. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Out of the 100 patients, 68 were cured. Of the 68 cured patients, 66 (97.1%) participants had high motivation, whereas 57 (83.8%) patients had high knowledge. Of the 32 patients who were not cured, 29 (90.6%) participants had low motivation and 30 (93.8%) participants had low knowledge. P values of motivation (<0.001) and knowledge (<0.001) between cured (66) and uncured (32) patients were highly statistically significant.
Conclusion: This study showed the effect of compliance on the effectiveness of syndromic management but did not find the array of factors which could affect the compliance.
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