Awareness and knowledge of female genital schistosomiasis in a population with high endemicity: a cross-sectional study in Madagascar

Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbiology

Sonya Ratefiarisoa¹  Rivo Solotiana Rakotomalala¹  Tahinamandranto Rasamoelina²  Dewi Ismajani Puradiredja³  Anna Jaeger³  Yannick Hoeppner³  Jean-Marc Kutz⁴  Pia Rausche⁴  Daniela Fusco⁴  Eva Lorenz⁴  Jürgen May⁵  Raphael Rakotozandrindrainy⁶  Rivo Andry Rakotoarivelo⁷ 

[1] Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Androva, Mahajanga, Madagascar;Centre Infectiologie Charles Mérieux, Antananarivo, Madagascar;Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany;Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany;German Center for Infection Research, Hamburg-Borstel-Lübeck-Riems, Hamburg, Germany;Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany;German Center for Infection Research, Hamburg-Borstel-Lübeck-Riems, Hamburg, Germany;Department of Tropical Medicine I, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany;University Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar;University Fianarantsoa, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar;

关键词: female genital schistosomiasis;    women’s health;    public health;    unmet medical needs;    awareness;    knowledge;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2023.1278974

 received in 2023-08-17, accepted in 2023-09-26,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionFemale genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is a neglected disease with long-term physical and psychosocial consequences, affecting approximately 50 million women worldwide and generally representing an unmet medical need on a global scale. FGS is the chronic manifestation of a persistent infection with Schistosoma haematobium. FGS services are not routinely offered in endemic settings with a small percentage of women at risk receiving adequate care. Madagascar has over 60% prevalence of FGS and no guidelines for the management of the disease. This study aimed to determine FGS knowledge among women and health care workers (HCWs) in a highly endemic area of Madagascar.MethodsA convenience sampling strategy was used for this cross-sectional study. Descriptive statistics including proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated, reporting socio-demographic characteristics of the population. Knowledge sources were evaluated descriptively. Binary Poisson regression with robust standard errors was performed; crude (CPR) and adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) with 95% CIs were calculated.ResultsA total of 783 participants were included in the study. Among women, 11.3% (n = 78) were aware of FGS while among the HCWs 53.8% (n = 50) were aware of FGS. The highest level of knowledge was observed among women in an urban setting [24%, (n = 31)] and among those with a university education/vocational training [23% (n = 13)]. A lower APR of FGS knowledge was observed in peri-urban [APR 0.25 (95% CI: 0.15; 0.45)] and rural [APR 0.37 (95% CI 0.22; 0.63)] settings in comparison to the urban setting. Most HCWs reported other HCWs [40% (n = 20)] while women mainly reported their family [32% (n = 25)] as being their main source of information in the 6 months prior to the survey.Discussion and conclusionsOur study shows limited awareness and knowledge of FGS among population groups in the highly endemic Boeny region of Madagascar. With this study we contribute to identifying an important health gap in Madagascar, which relates to a disease that can silently affect millions of women worldwide. In alignment with the targets of the NTD roadmap, addressing schistosomiasis requires a paradigm shift for its control and management including a greater focus on chronic forms of the disease.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Rausche, Rakotoarivelo, Rakotozandrindrainy, Rakotomalala, Ratefiarisoa, Rasamoelina, Kutz, Jaeger, Hoeppner, Lorenz, May, Puradiredja and Fusco.